System and methods for archetype enabled research and search

ABSTRACT

A system and methods for enhanced search are enabled by archetypes that improve the relevancy of the search arguments utilized, as well as the search results received, in response to a query. The system in preferred embodiments applies archetypes to several points within the total search process. The system receives and evaluates a query, and in response to that query may generate additional suggested areas for investigation, as embodied in additional queries, knowledge constructs, or other data items. The system generates additional search arguments, which may be multiple, and may relate the search arguments in a search structure. The system in some embodiments applies archetypes to improve filtering, ranking or otherwise prioritizing search results. The system in some embodiments applies archetypes to format search results. The system may be used in conjunction with a system to facilitate user thinking about an arbitrary problem.

REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/681,792, filed on May 17, 2005, which isherein 15 incorporated by reference.

This application is a continuation-in-part and claims priority under USC§120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/705,654, filed on Nov. 10,2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,203,667, entitled System and Method ofFacilitating and Evaluating User Thinking About an Arbitrary ProblemUsing an Archetype Process, which is incorporated herein by reference,and which claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application 60/425,343, filed Nov. 11, 2002, entitled“Integrated Thinking and Knowledge Construct, and Building and ViewingMethod and System for Same,” incorporated by reference.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains or maycontain material, which is subject to copyright protection. Thecopyright owner has no objection to the photocopy reproduction by anyoneof the patent document of the patent disclosure in exactly the form itappears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, butotherwise reserves all copyrights rights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods and systems to assist inperforming a search and especially in obtaining useful results. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to a novel approach thatassists a user in obtaining improved search results through theapplication of archetype model structures at one or more critical pointswithin the total search process, such as application of the archetypemodel structures to develop enhanced search queries, to rank and/orfilter search results, and/or to format search results, and others.

BACKGROUND

As the amount of information escalates on the Internet and otheravailable sources, there is an increasing need to be able to improve thequality and relevancy of search results that are accomplished in anyinformation-need situation. Resulting documents and data returnedthrough the use of widely available search engines often number in thethousands or more. At the same time, research shows that users mostoften take their “answers” or desired data from the top 10 documentsreturned from any search activity. It is therefore clear that theability to return the most relevant data to any search query situationis an important goal, and is likely only to become more important as theamount of information available grows.

Searching and finding relevant information is one portion of an overallproblem-solving process. Problem solving skills and knowledgeconstruction—especially in information intensive settings—have beenidentified by scholars, teachers and business leaders as critical tosucceeding in the world today. As such, skilled searching contributes todeveloping understanding of the relevant scope and boundaries, as wellas depth and detail, relevant to a particular problem. Teachers andschools incorporate the teaching of search within inquiry based projectsto coach and instruct students in information gathering, sorting, andanalysis. Effective search requires skills and techniques to define andrefine the topic or topics or questions being sought, identify relevantinformation and knowledge, seek and find linkages and relate informationand knowledge appropriately in the context of the problem at hand, andto sort through and select the most relevant knowledge or information.

It is clear that a major determinant of the quality and relevancy of theinformation returned in any search is determined by the search or queryentered or provided that is used to initiate or formulate any searchactivity. Individuals who are more experienced in trying to formunderstanding or solve problems using vast amounts of information (andoften text) are better and faster at providing on-target search terms intheir search activities, and better at evaluating and sifting throughand formulating any search results for use.

Some of these individuals' expertise may come from some portion ofdomain-specific knowledge, which allows them to formulate search queriesusing more appropriate terms or questions. However, other and powerfulexpertise comes from the experience individuals develop in solvingproblems and developing understanding utilizing many and disparatesources of information as a set of skills in and of themselves. Thosewith greater problem solving experience in unstructured orinformation-rich situations are generally much better and much fasterthan less experienced people at identifying information needs withintheir project, translating their evaluation of their currently held setof information and desired further information into specific needs, andin formulating search phrases, terms or arguments that appropriatelyrepresent their information needs.

One of the approaches being focused upon by search providers includesthe improvement of the ranking algorithms and approaches used to rankand present search results to users. Various ranking improvements arebeing used or proposed, such as human-edited document mapping andrating, hierarchical categories for document classification, existinghyperlink analysis and others. While these approaches improve theranking of search results over non or minimally ranked searches,additional improvements are still very much needed. In particular,approaches that improve the relevancy and quality of the search resultswith respect to the specific user in their specific problem solvingcircumstance are of particular importance.

Another reason that experienced problem solvers are better at producingsearch results is that they are generally better at and more comfortablewith handling the iterative, development process of moving from defininga problem or question through finding relevant information, constructingknowledge and meaning from that information, and producing a coherentresult for such an “inquiry based project.” Such experienced problemsolvers are generally comfortable and fluent at deciding whatinformation they need, how to proceed, what additional searches would beuseful to pursue, how to evaluate intermediate search results, and howto filter and integrate search results for their use in a meaningfulway. They are also comfortable at identifying a need for new oradditional information at one point in time and acting on that needthrough conducting a search at a different point of time. One of theenabling factors for experienced problem solvers and searchers is thatthey are comfortable managing the development of understanding ormeaning for a problem or topic that most often has multiple parts to it.Because many if not most information intensive projects include morethan a single simple question (and often include many facets of aproject), experienced problem solvers are also generally comfortable andadept at managing through an iterative process of developing meaning orunderstanding utilizing vast amounts of information—and utilizingmultiple searches for information, which may be related to one anotherthrough their thinking about the project in various ways. Experiencedproblem solvers are comfortable with conducting multiple searches withintheir own implied project (and usually mental and nonexplicit) projectframework that relates all of the aspects of their project together.

Inexperienced problem solvers struggle with many aspects that contributefinally to a high quality search result. They struggle with identifyingwhen there is a need for more information, how best to formulate thatneed, how to codify that need into a search statement of some kind, andhow to filter and integrate the results of searches into the variousaspects of their project.

There is therefore a need for improved methods and systems that aremodeled on experienced or expert problem solvers and that assist lessexperienced searchers with defining appropriate and useful searcharguments, filtering the results, and formatting and integrating theresults into their project. There is further need for improved systemsand methods which accommodate the realities of the complexity of workingon information intensive projects, for example in that most projects orextended information seeking involve multiple and related searches.Improved search-related methods and systems not only assist lessexperienced searchers/problem solvers, but improve the productivity andquality achieved by experienced searchers/problem solvers as well.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides new and innovative techniques for searchsystems and methods through the application of archetypes for problemsolving and other factors at a number of points throughout the totalsearch process.

According to one aspect of the invention, a system and methods evaluatea query or other input and generate suggested additional knowledge itemsthat are related to and likely to enhance the results received fromaddressing the search query, based on the application of archetypes forproblem solving and other factors.

According to another aspect of the invention, a system and methodsgenerate additional or enhanced search arguments based on the initialquery or input, evaluation and application of archetypes, andpotentially on any suggested additional knowledge items.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a system andmethods generate multiple search arguments from a query or input beingprocessed based on the initial query or input, evaluation andapplication of archetypes and other factors According to another aspectof the present invention, any multiple search arguments may be relatedto one another in a related search structure.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a system andmethods utilize archetypes and other factors to in some embodimentsfilter, prioritize, and/or rank search results.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a system andmethods utilize archetypes and other factors in some embodiments toformat, present and/or output search results. Such search results mayinclude in different embodiments, constructed knowledge constructs,selections of results, and/or lists of ranked or prioritized searchresults and others. In some embodiments, search results may beautomatically constructed and produced based on suggestions withoutintervention by the user.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become readilyapparent upon review of the following description in association withthe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a conceptual depiction of the preferred embodiment.

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of an overview of one embodiment ofgroups of components of the archetype structure.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of an example development path for anintegrated thinking and knowledge construct.

FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram of an example alternative developmentpath for an integrated thinking and knowledge construct.

FIG. 1D is a schematic diagram of another example alternativedevelopment path for an integrated thinking and knowledge construct.

FIG. 1E is a schematic diagram of example alternative viewpoints thatmay be provided to the user by representations.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of one example computing implementationenvironment for one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example architecture for oneembodiment.

FIG. 3A is a flowchart showing the general interaction of thearchitecture modules of one embodiment.

FIG. 3B is a flowchart further related to the transactions and functionsassociated with one embodiment of process manager suggestor.

FIGS. 3B-10 is an additional flowchart further related to thetransactions and functions associated with one embodiment of processmanager suggestor.

FIG. 3C is a flowchart of transactions related to the general functionsof the example software module view and representation manager.

FIGS. 3C-10 is a flowchart providing further detail regarding oneembodiment of the example view and representation manager module.

FIGS. 3C-20 is a flowchart providing further detail regardingoptimization by one embodiment of the view and representation manager.

FIG. 4A is an example structure for a topic set as a thinking structureof an integrated construct of one embodiment.

FIGS. 4A-10 is an example of one embodiment of a topic set, specificallya topic set created for a history assignment in an educational setting.

FIG. 4B is an example of the addition of information constructs to anintegrated construct of one embodiment, in the case in which a topic sethas been previously defined.

FIG. 4C is an example of the addition of an analysis construct to anintegrated construct of one embodiment, in the case in which a topic setand certain information constructs have been previously defined.

FIG. 4D is an example of the addition of a meaning statement to anintegrated construct of one embodiment, in the case in which a topicset, certain information constructs, and an analysis construct have beenpreviously defined.

FIG. 4E is an example of linkages between components of an integratedconstruct of one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of the method and processprovided through the archetype process.

FIG. 5A is a flow chart showing additional detail regarding defining theproject initiation, goal and problem definition.

FIG. 5B is a flow chart showing additional detail regarding oneembodiment of the question and topic assistance tool.

FIGS. 5B-10 is an example embodiment of the categories of model topicsor questions of one embodiment of the topic assistance tool.

FIGS. 5B-20 is an example embodiment of the subcategories of modeltopics or questions of one embodiment of the topic assistance tool.

FIGS. 5B-30 is an example embodiment of model subtopics topics of oneembodiment.

FIGS. 5B-40 is an example embodiment of model secondary subtopics of oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5C is a flowchart of transactions related to one embodiment ofcreating a new information construct.

FIG. 5D is a flowchart of transactions related to one embodiment offormatting or modifying an information construct.

FIGS. 5D-10 is an example of an unformatted entry approach for theinformation construct of one embodiment.

FIGS. 5D-20 is an example of formatted entry approach for theinformation construct of one embodiment.

FIG. 5E is a flow chart of transactions related to one embodiment ofacquiring information through an Internet browser or other electronicsource.

FIG. 5F is a flowchart of transactions related to one embodiment ofcreating a new analysis construct.

FIG. 5G is a flowchart of transactions related to one embodiment offormatting an analysis construct.

FIG. 5H is a flowchart of transactions related to one embodiment ofadding elements to an analysis construct.

FIGS. 5H-10 is an example of relationships between an analysis constructand information constructs of one embodiment.

FIGS. 5H-20 is an example of a partially completed analysis constructwork space of one embodiment.

FIGS. 5H-30 is another example of a completed analysis construct.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an example of one embodiment of regionsthat may be used in representing an integrated thinking and knowledgeconstruct and the associated method and process.

FIG. 6A is a schematic view of example types of views or representationsthat may be provided by one embodiment of the present invention, beingshown as regions and slices as well as the overall and individualcomponent views.

FIG. 6B is a schematic depiction of one example embodiment of regions asrepresentational areas in one 3-D embodiment.

FIG. 6C is another schematic depiction of one example embodiment ofregions as representational areas in one 3-D embodiment.

FIG. 6D is schematic depiction of one example embodiment of “slices” asa means of providing representations in one 3-D embodiment.

FIG. 6E shows a schematic depiction of the use of next visible views andimplied next visible views in a 3-D embodiment.

FIGS. 6I to 6V are alternative example shapes which may be used torepresent the integrated construct of the present invention as a threedimensional object.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the views provided by one embodiment of thepresent invention and example navigational paths between these views.

FIG. 7A is an example of one embodiment of a representation focused on asubtopic in one 3 dimensional representation form.

FIG. 7B is a schematic illustrating an example of a 2 dimensionalembodiment of regions and subset or slice views.

FIG. 7C is an example of one representation in a 2 dimensionalembodiment, focused on an individual subtopic view.

FIG. 7D is an example of one representation of an embodiment of alinkage view, specifically focused on a person information construct.

FIG. 7E is an example of a navigator device used in one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a high level flowchart overview related to one embodiment ofthe archetype enabled search system and methods.

FIG. 9 is a schematic depiction of one embodiment of a systemenvironment as context for the archetype enabled search system andmethods.

FIG. 10 is a schematic depiction of modules that in one embodiment maybe utilized to accomplish the archetype enabled search invention.

FIG. 11 is a more detailed flow chart depicting one embodiment ofactivities and transactions associated with the evaluation of a query orinput and generating suggestions related thereto.

FIG. 12 is a more detailed flow chart depicting one embodiment ofactivities and transactions associated with archetype enabled searchargument generation and creating or managing a search structure.

FIG. 13 is an overall flowchart related to one embodiment of conductingone or more searches.

FIG. 14 is a more detailed flow chart depicting one embodiment ofactivities and transactions associated with conducting and managingmultiple searches.

FIG. 15 is a more detailed flow chart depicting one embodiment ofactivities and transactions associated with conducting an individualsearch.

FIG. 16 is a more detailed flow chart related to one embodiment offiltering, ranking and/or prioritizing and formatting search results.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The description begins with a description of a system and method forfacilitating user thinking about an arbitrary problem. Additionaldescription regarding specific archetype enabled research and searchrelated systems and methods then follows.

Example embodiments of the invention include those described below andothers. It should be understood that these embodiments are offered byway of illustration; the invention is not limited to these embodiments,but is of broad applicability and can be implemented and used in manydifferent configurations and contexts that will be apparent to thosefamiliar with the art.

The system provides a software tool to evaluate, facilitate and conveyuser thinking about an arbitrary problem. In preferred embodiments, thetool begins with a base-line structure in which to address an arbitraryproblem. At its simplest, this structure includes the idea of specifyingand inter-relating the problem or topic to be addressed, specifying aproposed conclusion to the problem, and specifying knowledge. The toolprovides various user mechanisms for the user to develop their thinking.The tool provides the ability to populate various structures withvarious specifications of topics, conclusions, and knowledge, and theirinterrelationships. More significantly, the tool provides intelligenceto the process and the structure of the user's work. The tool monitorsand tracks the interactions of the user to determine whether the user'sapproach or process toward addressing the problem might benefit withcertain specific suggestions to aid the user's development or thinking.In addition, the tool monitors the structure of the user's thinking todetermine whether the user's problem definition, knowledge, and proposedconclusion and underlying thinking is well-founded in a structural andin some cases, logical sense. To do the former, the tool tracks thespecific interactions of the user to monitor things like interactionsspent specifying details and collecting data vs. developing conclusions.To do the latter, the tool analyzes the structure of the user'spresently proposed conclusion, for example, analyzing whether it issupported by knowledge. In preferred embodiments, the former and latterare implemented with rules-based inference engines to make suggestedactions for the user, in a variety of ways.

The tool provides an ability to encapsulate or contain the state ofthinking and development in an entity called an ITKC. This entityintegrates the topic, conclusion and knowledge, and the tool conveysthis integrated state preferably using a visual, physical metaphor suchas a three-dimensional object, although two dimensional embodiments mayalso be used. The tool inherently contains an exemplary ITKC, and insome sense this is a core, exemplary or archetype structure for anarbitrary problem. The tool uses the archetype problem solutionstructure and the archetype or preferred process as the basis forproviding guidance to the user in their development of their thinking,and in response their actions. Initially, the user is provided with astarting point for their project that in a preferred embodiment isundeveloped other than to model that an exemplary structure includes atleast a topic, conclusion, and knowledge area. A more specific startingpoint for user development may be provided, for example, a super-user,teacher or other source may provide more specific structure to theproblem and perhaps some initial content or the like to provide a morespecific ITKC starting point. The user then may further develop thisprovided initial ITKC in the process of their thinking evolution. Asthey add structures, content and relationships to their thinking, theirpersonal ITKC will correspondingly modify.

The tools to track user interactions and make suggestions combine withthe interrelated visual feedback views to in effect guide the user in anarchetype process for developing their thinking about an arbitraryproblem. By this it is meant, a model or exemplary process or way toapproach the problem procedurally. Since the user will develop theirITKC, the applicable archetype problem solution structure and applicableportions of the exemplary process will change in relation to the presentITKC (i.e., model or exemplary structure will depend on the user'scurrent ITKC to which it is compared). Thus, the applicable archetypestructure and exemplary process are in some sense dynamic. In addition,the archetype process is state dependent, meaning the processsuggestions made and monitored will depend on the state of the user'sactual processing and interactions.

The tool thus facilitates an exemplary process for accomplishing soundthinking and knowledge development about arbitrary problems and providesthe user with the ability to develop their own thinking and knowledgeabout the problem through the development an ITKC or integrated thinkingand knowledge construct. The archetype process and structure facilitatethe user from conception of the problem (or question, issue, subject,topic, or area of interest) through the creation and viewing of asummary understanding, answer or other result. For purposes of thisapplication, the terms ITKC, “integrated thinking and knowledgeconstruct,” “thinking and knowledge construct,” “integrated knowledgeand thinking construct,” “knowledge and thinking construct” and“integrated construct” are used interchangeably.

Referring now to the Figures, in FIG. 1, in a preferred embodiment, thetool provides (i) an archetype structure (block 1500) which providescomponents and options for creating, structuring, developing, andrelating the set of components a user may employ in developing theirthinking and knowledge about an arbitrary problem; (ii) the userdeveloped model or ITKC, indicated in block 1000, which is comprised ofuser selected and developed thinking and knowledge structures andencapsulates the relationships and process history conducted by theuser; (iii) an archetype process, as indicated in block 2000, forthinking about and solving arbitrary problems, which enables and helpsguide the user in their work; (iv) tracking, evaluating, and inferencemodules which monitor and evaluate the user's actions against archetypeor exemplary structure and process rules, and make suggestions to theuser accordingly; and (v) an ongoing representation of the user'sdeveloped model or ITKC, as indicated in block 100, against variousviews that convey archetype structure and process, as well as potentialnatural next thinking and working steps, and therefore provide ongoingcoaching to the user through visual feedback.

The user developed model is referred to herein as an ITKC or IntegratedThinking and Knowledge Construct. It should be understood that the useof the word construct is employed to convey both (i) a component that isconstructed and evident to the user; and (ii) the underlying datastorage and retrieval requirements for achieving the described componentor components and parts (see additional description below regardingoptions which may be employed in the data structure and implementationapproach). In a preferred embodiment, the user developed model cansubsequently be tracked and evaluated against archetype structuralexpectations by the tool, including but not limited to items such as thetypes of components selected, the prevalence of components selected, thecompleteness of components used at various stages in the development ofthe ITKC (in terms of content, structure, and linkages) and others. Theuser process can similarly be tracked and evaluated against thearchetype process rules, including but not limited to items such as whatportions of process the user elects to try or use, the user's responsehistory to suggestions made by the system, and the user's selection anduse of various views which constitute thinking subsets. As describedelsewhere herein, in a preferred embodiment, such tracking is used fordirect feedback to the user, the generation of suggestions, and variousreporting and tracking activities for the primary user and potentiallyfor users like teachers. In one preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG.1A, the archetype structure for an arbitrary problem 10 may include athinking construct 20 and a knowledge construct 40 which may eachinclude a plurality of components. The groups of components of thethinking construct 20 preferably include a number of thinking structureswhich in a preferred embodiment may include: (i) a topic set 22 fordefining and maintaining the definition of the subject, topic,questions, problem, issue, area of interest or other suitabledescriptions of the project, and preferably including both a main topicor problem and one or more subtopics; (ii) a meaning statement set 24for developing and maintaining the user's perspectives regarding thedata and/or analysis including one or more but not limited to:conclusions, observations, hypotheses, theories, summary statements,perspectives, ideas, or any similar items; and (iii) an answer orsummary set 26 for developing and maintaining the highest level answeror summary viewpoint of the results attained relating to the project. Ina preferred embodiment, the components of the knowledge construct 40 maygenerally include: (i) information constructs 42 for creating,organizing, and maintaining data and information elements regarding theproject, including structured and unstructured formats; (ii) analysisconstructs 44 for developing or associating a plurality of analysesregarding the project, which may be based on data, information elementsand/or information constructs created with via this invention orgathered from other electronic sources and associated with theintegrated construct, and for maintaining the analytical components instructured and/or unstructured formats; and (iii) portions of data 46which are not structured according to information constructs or analysisconstructs, but which are associated with the integrated construct. Theintegrated construct further includes the linkages or relationships 60that may exist or be created among and between any of these individualcomponents and groups of components. In certain cases, the preferredembodiment provides one or more links automatically in response to useractions as the user proceeds through the various stages of developmentof the integrated construct. As discussed below, these links help theuser understand and document the relationship between various constructknowledge or thinking components. For simplicity purposes, thisapplication primarily refers to the building, creation, use and sharingof a single ITKC or integrated construct, although it should beappreciated that the preferred embodiment is preferably operable toenable one or more users to create one or more integrated constructs,which may be standalone or related to one another. It should also beappreciated that a user may include one person or a group of people.

The integrated construct or ITKC which is built by the user can beassociated with or contain as little information as the title or labelthe user assigns to the integrated construct. The integrated constructcan be associated with or contain one, some or none of the componenttypes enabled to the user by the preferred embodiment. The integratedconstruct can also contain or be associated with a one, none or aplurality of empty, partially completed, or completed components, asdescribed below. The output of the preferred embodiment may beelectronic or paper based. The method and system also enables users toinclude electronic information from other standard computerized toolsand information formats such as images and documents that may be copiedand pasted into or otherwise associated with portions of the integratedconstruct.

The archetype structure and method and process of the preferredembodiment are preferably modular in their embodiment to enable the useof individual or subset combinations of components in the progressivebuilding of the integrated construct, and the corresponding associatedportions of method and process. The method and components provided bythe preferred embodiment are based on the understanding of experts incompleting information intensive development, thinking and knowledgedevelopment about arbitrary problems. The method and system preferablyincludes guidance for the user as the user proceeds in the creation ofthe integrated construct, through the options and tools that areprovided to the user, through tracking user actions and providingsuggestions to the user, and through the design of the visual feedbackrepresentations, work spaces and navigation provided to the user. Themethod and process can be used or implemented in a linear fashion, butare preferably modular to enable creation of the components or the useof the archetype process in a non-linear fashion thereby supportingdifferent individual thinking and problem solving styles, and differentkinds and complexities of problems or topics, as discussed furtherbelow.

The representations and user interfaces provided by the preferredembodiment offer several distinct advantages, including but not limitedto the following: (i) the design of the one or more two-dimensional orpreferably three dimensional representations depict the development ofan ITKC and help guide and provide access for the user to the associatedarchetype process and archetype structure; (ii) in the three-dimensionalform, the display and manipulation of the integrated construct behavesas though it were a physical three dimensional object, in that theintegrated construct can be rotated, flipped, turned, zoomed in on andzoomed out on; (iii) each two or three dimensional representation of thetotal integrated construct represents the whole thinking for a userabout a problem or project, with parts that have meaning in relation tothat whole, and the relationships are made readily apparent; (iv) therepresentations provided by the preferred embodiment are in and ofthemselves a form of guidance, as they differentiate types of thinkingwork, provide meaningful workspaces for working on their problem fromdifferent vantage points, and suggest by their visual and placerelationships and specific design where the user is in relation to thearchetype process and structure, and next steps the user might want toconsider (as discussed below).

Order of Work and Thinking in the Construction of the IntegratedConstruct

The preferred embodiment facilitates the development of an integratedconstruct through a plurality of different paths, according to theuser's preferred thinking and problem solving approaches, the nature andcomplexity of the problem being addressed, and other determinants.Referring now to FIGS. 1B, 1C and 1D, the order in which problems orinquiry based projects may be completed and the integrated constructsand their various components are built and used can vary widely. Thestarting point, for instance, as shown schematically in FIG. 1B, may bedefining the topic set 22 by inputting or defining an issue, question orproblem and its descriptors, with subsequent focus on developing data 46and information constructs 42 and analysis constructs 44 and finally indeveloping views on an answer or summary view 26 (as would be the casein conducting most independent student projects or research papers).Alternatively, as schematically shown in FIG. 1C, the starting point maybe an answer or summary set 26 by inputting a single or set ofalternative answers, hypotheses, or summary views 26, for example, withsubsequent activities focusing on collecting and analyzing informationin data 46, information constructs 42 and/or analysis constructs 44, theclarification of topics or questions 22 relevant to the alternativeanswers or views, and so on (as would often be the case with adults whoare deliberating between alternative answers to a problem or have ahypothesis that is to be tested and proved; this is also the generalprocess for the scientific method). Similarly, as schematically shown inFIG. 1D, the starting point may be a set of information constructs 42which includes a set of information that has been previously gathered,that are to be interpreted, with subsequent focus on the meaningstatements 24 and analysis constructs 44 that may be developed based onsuch information (as might be the case in educational settings andactivities around a set of content, for example). It should beappreciated that a plurality of paths and a plurality of orders of useof the components as well as choice of the component types that maycomprise an integrated construct are all in accordance with thepreferred embodiment. The modularity and flexibility of the method andprocess that facilitates the flexibility in paths for integratedconstruct development provides a significant advantage.

It should thus be appreciated that the preferred embodiment preferablyprovides certain visual and general method of stability or familiarityto the user from the very outset of the definition of an arbitraryproblem through the completion of an integrated construct.

The preferred embodiment thus provides guidance while also providingflexibility in the approach to problems and inquiry based projects,enabling the user to address an inquiry based project in a natural,progressive way.

Applications of the Integrated Construct

The archetype structure and process that provides for the ability todevelop integrated constructs and the associated process, method andsystem of the preferred embodiment can be employed in a wide variety ofdifferent circumstances. As discussed above, one of the most prevalentuses is likely to be in supporting a user faced with a problem orsimilar project that may generally involve one, some or all of thefollowing: (i) some degree of defining one or more problems, issuesquestions or other area of interest; (ii) gathering, organizing anddepicting information and/or preparing understanding or analysis aboutthat problem, issue, question or area of interest; (iii) determining anddeveloping the user's own understanding, perspectives and/or opinionabout that problem, issue, topic, question, or area of interest and theknowledge they have developed; (iv) constructing meaning about theproblem, issue, topic or area of interest, and/or adding the user's ownthinking, which may include the user's creative thoughts, theories,conclusions, and/or perspectives or other similar items; (v) determiningsome kind of culminating answer or summary view for their project orproblem; (vi) evaluating progress and adjusting their approach along theway, evaluating that the results are sound and follow principles of goodthinking and problem solving; (vii) portraying or otherwisecommunicating the user's results in completed form and/or while inprocess. Although the preferred embodiment supports the totality ofactivities involved in such arbitrary problems or inquiry basedprojects, the preferred embodiment can be used effectively to supportand enable any one, some or all of these activities in absence of acomplete process for an arbitrary problem or inquiry based project orfor any subset of combination of these activities.

The preferred embodiment may be used in learning environments (such asprimary or secondary schools, colleges and universities) as well as incommercial environments (such as corporations, partnerships and otherbusinesses) and non-commercial environments (such as in home or personalprojects). In a preferred embodiment, the archetype process andstructure can be used in almost any understanding and/or problem solvingor opinion situation, in place of a text paper, an electronicpresentation, or a web site.

Certain Advantages of Preferred Embodiments of the Invention

The preferred embodiment can be employed in many different circumstancesand by many different types of users. This enables better transfer oflearning of thinking skills across problems or projects for a singleuser, and sharing such learning across users.

Another advantage of the preferred embodiment is that the archetypeprocess and structure provide a modular approach that enable the user tonavigate flexibly across the components of the integrated construct andthe steps of the process and method, including a plurality of differententry points. Different thinking and problem solving styles can besupported, and yet still benefit from the guidance and trackingabilities of the tool.

While the preferred embodiment provides for support of a wide range oftypes and complexities of problems, issues and topics from definition ofa topic of interest through creation and depiction of the summaryunderstanding, solution or result, the steps and components of thepreferred embodiment can be used individually or in subset combinationsthereof.

The preferred embodiment enables the visualization and feedback ofdeveloping and completed thinking and knowledge about a problem not onlyfor the immediate user, but the ITKC can be shared with other users.

Other advantages of the preferred embodiment include, but are notlimited to the following: (i) the scope of the archetype structure andprocess may include and integrate not only data and information orknowledge related to a problem, but importantly, how the user chooses todefine the problem, question or topic they are trying to solve and themeaning, viewpoint or answer the user chooses to create from theinformation and analyses the user collects and/or creates; (ii) the ITKCthat the user develops is an ongoing detailed and high level, highlyrelated construction that encapsulates their thinking and knowledge workand can therefore be tracked and used as the basis for guidance; (iii)the preferred embodiment provides the ability to create, manage, view,and maintain components and simple and complex linkages between thecomponents as the integrated construct is developed, both vertically(such as in levels of detail) and horizontally (such as in informationalrelationships); (iv) the archetype structure and representations maydifferentiate classes of types of thinking and knowledge related workinto a set of identifiable regions which focus on the particularthinking or knowledge activity; (v); (vi) the representations mayprovide a way of abstracting away from the detailed content and linkagesduring appropriate thinking and knowledge activities, while stillproviding access to detail as desired; (vii) the representations mayprovide optimal combinations of components for different work activitieswith their associated method and process, and may use visualrepresentations and other methods to provide the user with suggestionson next steps or views, and others as evident elsewhere herein.

Implementation Approach

One embodiment within a computer environment is depicted in FIG. 2, withelements of this embodiment generally including: (i) a set of computersoftware programs 90 resident on or operating through a computerprocessor 91 a and 91 b; (ii) a suitable form of data storage andmanagement 93 capable of facilitating the storage and retrieval ofmultiple components of the integrated construct, any associatedlinkages, as well as process history, user profiles, and specific ITKCcomponent content and characteristics; (iii) a graphical user interface96 or other suitable representation mechanism or form 97, whetherdirectly connected to a CPU 91 or working through a network 95 c toaccess a remote CPU 91 or other display mechanism of some kind; and (iv)likely access to other electronic information sources such as theInternet 95 a and other electronic sources, whether resident on the sameCPU as indicated in block 94 d, as the programs or accessible via alocal or other network 95 b. The preferred embodiment may also co-residewith other standard tools, such as a word processor 94 a, a spreadsheetprocessor 94 c, and Internet browser 94 b and other such tools. Asstated below, the preferred embodiment may be resident on a local CPU 91or accessible remotely over local networks 95 b or the Internet block 95a. As also described more fully below, the embodiments are not limitedby type of operating system, 92.

FIG. 3 depicts one example architecture for one embodiment is operableto provide the logic, method and process, capabilities and components,and representations for one or more users. In this embodiment, thearchitecture software modules represented in FIG. 3 interact to providethe functionality described herein, and which in one embodimentgenerally include: (i) a representation or graphical user interface 100;(ii) a view manager 200 or like module(s) which facilitates therepresentations or graphical user interface, the status of theirevolving ITKC and portions of associated process and content beingpresented to the user; (iii) a process manager suggestor 300 whichutilizes the archetype structure and process to provide help and guidesto the user; (iv) a process manager 400 or like module which facilitatesthe user in constructing their ITKC based on and guided by the archetypestructure; iv) a linkage manager 600 or like module which updateslinkages among and between the components of the integrated constructand groups of components, in some cases automatically and in other casesin response to user actions; (vi) an update manager 700 or like modulewhich updates the content and structure of the integrated construct inresponse to user actions; and (vii) the content of the integratedconstruct and its associated structure or formats, stored in a suitableform of data storage and retrieval mechanisms 800. These generalsoftware architectural modules are described in greater detail followingthe description of the method and process of the invention providedbelow.

It should be appreciated that the specific embodiment may be operativein a plurality of electronic and computerized environments, as describedmore fully below. It should further be appreciated that the preciseboundaries of computer programs or other implementation mechanisms candiffer from those represented in the general software architecturedepicted in FIG. 3 and still be in accordance with the preferredembodiment. It should further be appreciated that although theembodiments rendered in FIG. 2 and in FIG. 3 show a division betweenprocess and data, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is beobject oriented or at the least highly based on object oriented designprinciples. The modularity of the method and process and itscorrespondence in structure to the components of the integratedconstruct lend themselves readily to object oriented implementation.

The storage and management of the data/information and structuralrelationships that comprise the integrated construct can be created andaccomplished through the use of a plurality of alternative, readilyavailable mechanisms and approaches. It should be appreciated that aplurality of different data storage formats and associated creationmechanisms may be used to facilitate the process and integratedconstruct in accordance with the present invention. Given the generalpurpose and nature of the invention, the optimal implementationmechanisms for data storage and creation will differ according to theamount and complexity of the information, as well as the size andcomplexity of knowledge and thinking constructs being included in orassociated with the integrated construct. These options will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art. One of the advantages of theintegrated construct's architecture is that the process and constructcan be implemented over a broad range of project complexities and broadrange of amounts of data/information while still utilizing the samegeneral user components, process, tools, regions, methods, and to agreat extent, interface or representations.

The interface representation, process, method, and underlying logic andinformation architecture for the integrated construct do not employassumptions about the underlying operating system. In one computerizedembodiment, the present invention may be implemented using one or morecomputer programs, each of which executes under the control of anoperating system, such as Windows, OS2, DOS, AIX, UNIX, MAC OS andothers, and causes the computer to perform the desired functions asdescribed herein. Using the present specifications, the invention may beimplemented as a machine, process, or article of manufacture by usingstandard programming and/or engineering techniques to produce software,firmware, hardware and any combination thereof.

Generally, in the computerized embodiment, the computer programs and/oroperating system are tangibly embodied in a computer readable device ormedia, such as memory, data storage devices, and/or data communicationdevices, thereby making a computer program product or article ofmanufacture according to the present invention, which may encompass acomputer program accessible from any suitable computer or electronicreadable device or media. The present invention can similarly beimplemented with a plurality of configurations and devices.

Moreover, in the computerized embodiment, the computer programs andoperating system are generally comprised of instructions which, whenread and executed by computers, cause the computers to perform the stepsnecessary to implement and/or use the present invention. Under controlof the operating system, the computer programs may be loaded frommemory, data storage devices, and/or data communication devices into thememories of the computers for use during actual operations. The presentinvention can thus be implemented in a local or remote processingenvironment, including use of a single computer, servers, the Internetor other forms of networked processing and communication. It should beappreciated that many modifications can be made to this implementationconfiguration in accordance with the present invention.

Media Types

The present invention facilitates the incorporation of a plurality ofmedia types in each of its components and activities, including but notlimited to alphanumeric characters, images, graphics, video,quantitative sets, three dimensional renderings, etc. It is common inthe art of manually or paper based inquiry based projects to incorporateand use any or all of these information or media types, and it issimilarly common in the art of computer programming, data delivered viathe Internet and other electronic based information to incorporate aplurality of different information or media types. It should thereforebe appreciated that the present invention is not intended to exclude anymedia type from the description, but rather to incorporate the pluralityof media types common in the forms described above and likely to beincorporated into such forms over time.

User Interaction

In one embodiment of the present invention, user interaction with thesystem is accomplished through the manipulation of one or more userinteraction, interface or input devices, such as a computer mouse,trackball, keyboard, touch pad, touch screen or stylus. Actions by auser with one or more of these interaction devices may cause a pluralityof results, including but not limited to: (i) movement of a visualmarker (e.g., pointer or cursor) across or on a representation providedby the system such as on a suitable display device; (ii) changes in therepresentations provided by the invention; or (iii) indication by theuser that a component available to the user is to be selected forfurther action in some manner. Throughout the description of thedetailed method, process, and system of the present invention, referenceis made to user interactions such as these. “Selection” as used hereinis intended to convey any suitable electronic means by which a user canindicate that the user wishes to initiate the relevant action associatedwith that selection. Similarly, movements by the user within and acrossthe representations provided by the system are described as a way tochange position and therefore access the relevant aspects of the methodand system, or to change views of the integrated construct, itscomponents or the regions or cognitive regions of the integratedconstruct as described herein. Such event handling approaches are wellknown to those skilled in the art. It should be appreciated that the useof other user interaction devices that result in similar inputs or cuesto the system of the present invention may be used in accordance withthe present invention. For example, user interaction can be accomplishedthrough voice activation mechanisms, or through prompting fromelectronic transactions from other sources that result in an electronicsignal to the system that is the functional equivalent of either entrythrough user interaction devices such as a keyboard or a mouse.

Display Devices

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the systemdisplays a plurality of representations that may be provided on one ormore of a plurality of devices. The present invention contemplates thedisplay on one or more of a variety of suitable of display devices ordisplays. The present invention can be embodied through any suitabledevice that generally provides the functional equivalent of the computerscreen or projected screen, hologram, or other electronic projection, aswell as via paper or other media type. An alternative embodiment of thepresent invention provides for printing or otherwise displays portionsof or the totality of the integrated construct and representations ofthe in-process or completed region views onto paper or othernon-electronic media. Another embodiment of the present inventionprovides for the construction of a physical construct, with the abilityto place, arrange or associate the information associated with each ofthe components of the integrated construct on or to a physical structure(as might be done, for example, on a physical exhibit).

Potential Components of the Integrated Construct in One Embodiment

A key enabler to the preferred embodiment is the archetype structure forthe content created and associated with accomplishing an inquiry basedproject, preferably made up of both thinking and knowledge constructs.The component classes or types that make up the archetype structure areprovided for the user to create, select, edit and link in the buildingof their ITKC. Linkages and relationships between components may becreated directly by the user or automatically by the system, asdescribed more fully below. In a preferred embodiment, the creation ofcomponents by the user creates subsequent thinking subset structures andworkspaces customized to facilitate focus and thinking on meaningfulsubsets of the project and at a plurality of levels of detail. Thefollowing describes in greater detail examples of components of thearchetype structure that may be used to comprise a user's thinking andknowledge construct, or ITKC as originally depicted generally in FIG.1A. The manner in which the archetype structure is subsequently used toevaluate and further guide the user is described in a later sectionherein.

In a preferred embodiment, types of components are synonymous withclasses, as the archetype structure lends itself easily to objectoriented implementation, although such implementation is not required.

Thinking Constructs in one preferred embodiment are made up of a TopicSet, (including a Main Topic or Problem and subtopics), a MeaningStatement Set, and an Answer or Summary View.

Topic Set

Referring again to FIG. 1, one of the thinking structures that may beused as a part of a thinking construct includes the topic set 22, whichmay be used to define the scope of the problem, question, issue, subjector topic or area of interest intended for pursuit by the user.Components of the topic set may include items such as one or moretopics, subjects, questions, problems, issues, areas of interest or anysuitable other way of defining an area of interest. Components of thetopic set may exist in a plurality of information media forms, includingbut not limited to text statements, drawings, images, or other commonlyused or suitable information media forms or formats.

FIG. 4A generally illustrates an example structure of a topic set 22. Inthis preferred embodiment, the topic set of an integrated constructincludes at least one statement of main topic 1220, generallyrepresenting the highest level or summary topic, subject, question,problem or issue intended to be included in the integrated construct(for example, in an educational context, the main topic might be “Whatcaused the development of the Constitution?”). The topic set may alsoinclude one or more subtopics 1222, 1224 and 1226 that are labeledSubtopics 1, 2 and 3 in FIG. 4A. Subtopics may be defined in order topartition or otherwise further elaborate the topic, subject, question,problem or issue of interest into smaller, more targeted or definedtopics, subjects, questions, or issues of interest (for example,continuing in an education context, subtopics might include “Who createdthe Constitution?”, and “What events led up to the Constitution?”). Thesubtopics associated with a main topic may also take on a plurality ofinformation forms. Referring again to FIG. 4A, in a preferredembodiment, subtopics may be further associated with one or moresecondary subtopics such as secondary sub-topics 1222 a, 1222 b, 1222 c,1224 a, 1224 b, and 1226 a respectively. These subtopics may provide alower level of partitioning or other further elaboration of thesubtopic, sub-question, sub-problem, sub-issue or sub-area of interest.For example, the subtopic “Who created the Constitution?” might befurther partitioned or elaborated through two additional secondarysubtopics, such as “Who were the Convention delegates?” and “What weretheir beliefs?” The secondary subtopics associated with any subtopic mayagain be comprised of information in any form: textual, drawing, video,image, graphic, etc. A secondary subtopic may be linked to more than onesubtopic. Although the most often utilized linking is likely to be thatof subdividing into greater detail or parts, the preferred embodimentalso allows for the identification of other kinds of linkages across andamong subtopics. It should be appreciated that the number of levelsprovided for the topic set may be varied and will generally be limitedonly by the processing robustness of the technology and data storageplatforms on which the present invention is implemented.

FIGS. 4A-10 illustrates an example of a topic set, in this case createdfor a history project for an educational assignment. The presentinvention generally provides several representation choices, describedmore fully below.

One preferred embodiment of the present invention also providesassistance in the form of a topic or question help tool, described ingreater detail as a part of the method and process description below.

The topic set 22 is preferably available throughout the process andmethod of the present invention for viewing, editing, adding to ordeleting topics, subtopics, and/or secondary subtopics. This enables theuser to for instance add additional relevant questions after the user isfurther along in the user's thinking process and investigation on theproject. Linkages among and between components within the topic set aremanaged and can be changed, via the link or linkage manager 600generally illustrated in FIG. 3 and described below. For example,secondary subtopics that are associated with a subtopic can subsequentlybe changed or moved to be linked to a different subtopic. Similarly,secondary subtopics can be changed or moved to become higher levelsubtopics, associated then with the main topic, if the user desires todo so. It should also be appreciated that other components of theintegrated construct may be linked to components of the topic set andthen available for viewing and editing accordingly, as will be describedmore fully in the detailed description of the method and process setforth below. In a preferred embodiment, topics, questions, issues orother areas of interest defined in the Topic Set also provide the basisfor one form of subsetting the project into meaningful subsets for workand consideration by the user (as described more fully below).

In one embodiment, the archetype structure provides for more than onetopic set for the same problem, as in providing alternative means ofsubsetting or elaborating the problem of concern.

Information Constructs

Referring back to FIG. 1, in a preferred embodiment, informationconstructs 42 provide a way for the user to create, organize, group,format, and reference the collection of information or data that theuser chooses to enter, create, or associate with their project and theintegrated construct. In the educational project “What caused theConstitution?” for example, the user may wish to create informationconstructs for some of the key framers (James Madison, GeorgeWashington), the Constitution, the key parts of the Federal government(the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches perhaps) and stategovernment. Information constructs in the invention may be formattedwith specific elements, partially formatted, of highly unstructured (asin including or being associated with just a block of text for example).

In a preferred embodiment, an information construct 42 may be made up ofa large amount of information and/or high number of informationelements, or may include as little information as the title, label ornumber assigned to it by the user. Reference points from otherintegrated construct components to information constructs 42 may beprovided to the information construct in at least two ways including butnot limited to: (a) to the information construct as a whole; and/or (b)to the information elements or groups of information elements associatedwith the information construct.

FIG. 4B generally illustrates an example of the addition of aninformation construct such as 1422, 1424 or 1426 to an integratedconstruct 10, specifically in the case where a topic set 22 has beendefined. An information construct may be defined uniquely in theintegrated construct with a label, number or title. The title, number orlabel for the information construct may serve as a reference point tothe collection of information or data elements that are to be associatedwith the unique label or title.

In a preferred embodiment, information constructs 42 generally may beunformatted, fully formatted or partially formatted in their form.Unformatted information constructs provide the ability to add text,drawings, and/or other portions of information to be stored andassociated with the title or label given uniquely to the informationconstruct, and therefore available to the user and for linkage or usewith other information construct or integrated construct components. Anexample of one embodiment of the entry of an unformatted informationconstruct 1422 a is shown in FIGS. 4D-10. As specified elsewhere herein,the information or data may include a plurality of media forms whenincluded in or associated with information constructs.

The preferred embodiment may facilitates the assignment or associationof information constructs with one or a number of subclasses or types.In one embodiment of the present invention, information constructs maybe classified as “People,” “Places,” “Things,” “Media,” “Ideas,”“Events,” “Issues” and “Other.” The present invention also generallyfacilitates the creation of user specified, customized classes or typesof information constructs. In the preferred embodiment, the assignmentof information constructs to class types is not required. Informationconstructs can be seen and manipulated at a plurality of levels ofdetail, including but not limited to the detailed level, the summarylevel and at an overall title or symbolic or icon level via the presentinvention. The method and system also provides the ability to link andreference information constructs from the appropriate internal fields ofother information constructs, and to define the nature of thoserelationships (for example, the person information construct “JamesMadison” having a birthplace element that is associated with the placeinformation construct “Virginia”).

The present invention facilitates the user associating and labelinginformation constructs as belonging to a similar category or group;information constructs may be associated with more than one group at thesame time or in the same project. For example, information constructs ofthe type “People” might be grouped according to categories such as“Political Leaders,” “Explorers” and “Artists.” In a preferredembodiment, the present invention provides for the creation of groups ofinformation constructs, the labeling or naming or titling of suchgroups, and the inclusion of descriptive or explanatory information todescribe or otherwise explain the nature or definition of the group.Once created in the preferred embodiment, groups also behave and may betreated by the user similarly to information constructs in their ownright.

For example, the user can add information to the group—in formatted,unformatted or a combination form; groups can be linked or otherwiseassociated with topics, meaning statements, and other IntegratedConstruct components; groups can be associated with or otherwise linkedwith Analysis Constructs.

The present invention in a preferred embodiment facilitates the visualdistinction of different types or classes of information constructs inthe display or representations of the integrated construct, such asthrough the use of different colors, icon designs, and/or shapes. In oneembodiment, different colors and intensities of representation are usedto depict the user's rating of the importance of the differentinformation constructs. It should also be appreciated that differentvisual solutions may be used to differentiate the type or class ofinformation construct in accordance with the present invention.

In one preferred embodiment, the method and system of the presentinvention provides a number of available formats to assist the user instructuring information elements of a particular subclass or type. Anexample of such a structured format 42 b is illustrated in FIGS. 5D-20.Structured formats provided for information elements are generallyassociated with unique labels and a defined field or data type. Forexample, the information construct type “People” may include optionaluse of structured fields or data elements such as birth date. Ifselected to be associated with a particular information construct, thestructured element format may become an empty data field associated withthe information construct's label, and ready for receiving or otherwisebeing associated with information either via direct input by the user,or through other data entry mechanisms as described in the detailedmethod and process section below.

Information Constructs may be linked or associated with one another in avariety of ways, including but not limited to: 1.) the association ofone information construct as a whole with another information constructas a whole (for example, that the Information Construct James Madison,of type Person, helped create the Information Construct TheConstitution, of type Thing or Media Thing); 2.) the association of afield that has been associated with or made a part of an InformationConstruct with another Information Construct (for example, that theInformation Construct James Madison's, of type Person, birthplace—afield—was the Information Construct Virginia, of type Place). Additionallinks can be created between Information Constructs by the user torepresent other relationships, either using labels for relationshiptypes that are provided by the invention, or by entering their owncustom labels (see later descriptions included in this documentregarding links). For example, the Information Construct James Madisonmight be linked or related to the Information Construct BenjaminFranklin and labeled with the indication that they are “alike” in someway. Such links may also include internal data available to the user,such as in the user describing how the Information Constructs describedabove are “alike.” The resulting linkages or associations made with anInformation Construct (and potentially made at different points of useand from different views as the user uses the invention) may then berepresented to the user for review, editing, adding, in a representationsuch as shown in FIG. 7D, which shows an example of one embodiment of alinkage view for the information construct James Madison, 42.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention allows a user to changesuch formatting of an Information Construct over time. For example, auser may initially create a Person Information Construct, labeled JamesMadison, but have no additional information they wish to add to thatInformation Construct at the time they create the construct. Oncecreated, the Information Construct (even in its “empty” form) may beassociated or otherwise linked to other Integrated Construct Components(such as topics, meaning statements, analysis constructs, and others).Subsequently, the user may find some research information—perhaps overthe Internet (as described more fully elsewhere herein) that he/shewants to associate with the James Madison Information Construct. Usingthe methods described later in this document, the user can select somesuch information and associate with the “empty” James MadisonInformation Construct, either as a section of text without furtherformatting, or by creating an element or field associated with theInformation Construct and then associating the information with thatelement or field (such as Accomplishments, for example). Similarly,subsequently the user may decide that they wish to format theinformation additionally, instead of just having the text associatedwith a field or element label such as Accomplishments. The user maysubsequently decide they wish to create fields or elements separatelyfor Career and Publications, for example, and may do so with the presentinvention at any time during the life of the Information Construct.Elements, fields or sub areas of information associated with anInformation Construct may be created by selecting from the predefinedset provided by the present invention, or by creating custom elements,fields, or sub areas. The user may also subsequently format a field thatwas text, for example, as a date.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, information constructs mayall have one or more common fields, such a separate field, element orinformation sub area for the inclusion of the user's opinion of theimportance of the information construct, in light of the project, andfor a summary story about the information Construct. In anotherembodiment of the invention, the user is provided with options to addrequired or standard fields, elements or sub areas to the differentInformation Constructs they will be creating in their project.

The robustness and flexibility of Information Constructs provided by thepresent invention make them a valuable set of components, not only aspart of an integrated construct, but also in conjunction with subsets ofthe total integrated construct,

Analysis Constructs

Referring back to FIG. 1, analysis constructs 44 are one component typeprovided by the archetype structure that generally enable useful viewsof information and constructed understanding which may provide a basisfor the user to discern meaning. For example, in the educational project“What caused the development of the Constitution?”, analysis constructsmight be created which included a sequence of events, a comparison ofthe beliefs of the different framers of the Constitution, or a visualdepiction of the members who were Federalists vs. Antifederalists.Analysis constructs 44 may be developed based on previously createdinformation constructs 42 and data 46, and may also be created based onnew user's actions and not directly connected to previously createdinformation constructs 42 or data 46. Analysis constructs may also becreated and linked or otherwise referenced to other standard electronicanalysis forms, such as spreadsheets.

Like information constructs, the present invention provides thatanalysis constructs may be defined by a unique label or title, which maybe in a variety of different information media forms, including but notlimited to textual characters, images, graphics or any other suitablemedia type. Once created, an analysis construct preferably provides aworkspace for the user, which may contain text, drawings, images or aplurality of information media forms. It should be appreciated thatanalysis constructs as described herein include both the provisioning ofan interactive workspace for the user and the storage of the informationcomponents and relationships that must be stored to enable the user toretrieve and subsequently view or edit the analysis construct.

Analysis constructs 44 may generally work as components within thelarger integrated construct 10 structure. As such, analysis constructsmay be labeled, referenced, and linked to the other components of theintegrated construct, such as elements of the topic set 22, meaningstatement set 24, and answer or summary set 26. Analysis constructs canalso provide value to the user as standalone information subsets, or asconstructs associated with information constructs (whether formatted orunformatted). Like information constructs, analysis constructs may alsobe unformatted, fully formatted or partially formatted.

FIG. 4C depicts an example of the addition of an analysis construct 1442to an integrated construct, specifically in the case in which a topicset 22 and certain information constructs 1422, 1424 and 1426 have beendefined previously for the integrated construct.

Referring again to FIG. 1, analysis constructs 44 may reference theinformation constructs and/or information elements. Analysis constructs44 may show relationships between and among the information constructs42, whether formatted, partially formatted, or unformatted, aspreviously described.

These relationships may be based upon and built out of several differentapproaches by the user including, for example: (a) based on the contentsof one or more information elements associated with a particularinformation construct 42; (b) relationships between informationconstructs 42 either perceived by the user or automatically definedwithin the integrated construct 10; and/or (c) the judgment of the userregarding the information elements within the information constructs 42,or any combination thereof. Analysis Constructs may also be createdwithout any reference to prior created information constructs. Asdescribed more fully in the method and process later in this document,the user may create an Analysis Construct without reference toInformation Constructs, either through the use of Unstructured Notes, orthrough the direct creation of an Analysis Construct using the drawing,text, image, and video import capabilities associated with the AnalysisConstruct. For example, a user may choose to draw the relationships heor she has been seeing in the information collected, or sketch a diagramof a hypothetical causation relationship freehand, as opposed to usingthe preformatted Analysis Constructs or specific references to theInformation Constructs themselves.

FIGS. 5H-10 generally depicts examples of relationships that may bedefined in one embodiment of the present invention between analysisconstructs 44 a and information constructs 1422, 1424, 1426, and 1428 inan integrated construct.

In a preferred embodiment, analysis constructs 44 may be used inconjunction with information constructs 42 and unstructured data 46 tocomprise the knowledge construct 40 portion of the integrated construct10. Capabilities of analysis constructs in a preferred embodiment maygenerally include for example, but not limited to, the followingabilities: (a) analysis constructs may reference, link and displayinformation construct labels and/or icons or summary depictions in orderto enable views and create understanding across individual informationconstructs, while still maintaining links to the detail within thoseinformation constructs for access by the user when desired; (b) analysisconstructs may reference, link to and display information elements fromwithin information constructs with similar access to related detailinformation; (c) analysis constructs may generate analysis constructviews or portions of analysis construct views based on the contents ofthe information elements associated with specific Information constructs(as in the construction of a timeline from date elements withininformation constructs); (d) analysis constructs may enable the user tocreate a depiction of their understanding freeform, through text,drawings, graphics, images or other media forms (as in drawing thecausal relationships between concepts or issues they have identified intheir project); and, as described previously, (e) analysis constructsmay provide visual representations and/or reference links to analysescreated with other software or electronic capabilities, including butnot limited to spreadsheets, graphs, images, and others.

FIGS. 5H-20 illustrates an example of a partially completed workspace 44b for an analysis construct. In this particular embodiment, the analysisconstruct 44 b provides a view of understanding of information acrossdifferent information constructs, as depicted in the “event” icons andlabels shown on FIGS. 5H-20. The present invention enables the user tocreate a particular analysis view across multiple informationconstructs. At the same time, any detail information elements associatedwith each of the information constructs may be available to the user byselecting the individual information construct and having the viewmanager (see FIG. 3) display the detailed information elements for theselected information construct.

In one preferred embodiment, analysis constructs may also include fieldssuch as a field associated with each unique analysis construct for thecreation and entry by the user of an observational or summary statementabout the analysis construct. This observational or summary statementfield is generally preferably textual, but may also be comprised of aplurality of information media forms. An example of such anobservational field is show in FIGS. 5H-20, which is an example of apartially completed analysis construct. In one preferred embodiment,observations that are entered associated with an analysis construct arethen later made available to the user in a combined view as basis forcreating higher-level meaning (see later descriptions of method andprocess and representations).

In one embodiment, the present invention provides for the ability tosave formats created for analysis constructs for future use. Forexample, the format illustrated in FIGS. 5H-30 may be saved as “historytimeline.” In this way, a user can create new analysis constructs withnew content and less work than the original analysis construct. In onepreferred embodiment, the method, process and system provide a set ofpreformatted analysis constructs as models to choose from for the user.

For example, in one embodiment, the present invention providespreformatted analysis constructs for sequence, timeline, qualitativecomparison and contrast, quantitative comparison, categorizationanalysis, family tree, and causation analysis. It should be readilyapparent that additional preformatted analysis constructs are obviousextensions and well within the scope and intent of the presentinvention, especially if they share the same general fields andcapabilities and relationships with respect to information constructs asdescribed herein.

For preformatted analysis constructs (whether provided as standard withthe method and process of the invention, or created as custom and savedby the user), the preferred embodiment provides the additional abilityto automatically generate analysis constructs based on the datacontained in or associated with information constructs and/or theirfields or elements. For example, if information constructs have beencreated with fields or elements of type “date” associated with them,then the user is able to select those dates and automatically generate atimeline for their review. Similarly, if information constructs havebeen created with commonly defined fields or elements, then the user isable to select those commonly defined fields or elements andautomatically generate a compare and contrast analysis construct. Oncegenerated, the user is able to decide about the generated analysisconstruct whether to “keep as is,” “modify” or “delete” the analysisconstruct.

In a preferred embodiment, analysis constructs as a type of component orclass generally include 1.) a title, number, label or other identifierand 2.) an observational or other summary field or fields; 3.) abackdrop visual and/or overall structure for the analysis construct; andthen may include any or all of the following: 4.) a structure for theinclusion of information constructs and/or information elements, 5)visual and/or data references to whole information constructs, summaryviews of the selected information constructs, and/or the elements orfields associated with Information Constructs; 6.) the inclusion oftools provided specifically by the present invention, as describedfurther elsewhere herein, 7.) unstructured information notes; 8.) thecreation of drawing, links with or without labels or other visualdepictions by the user, and/or 9.) drawings, text, images or videosincluded with the analysis construct as provided by the user, andothers.

In the preferred embodiment, the archetype structure provides for theability to create analysis constructs that include references to othersoftware tools.

Meaning Statement Set

Referring back to FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment facilitates thecreation of a meaning statement set 24, preferably as a portion of thethinking construct 20 of a completed inquiry project and integratedconstruct 10. The meaning statement set 24 generally includes thecollection of statements or other informational depictions and theirrelationships to one another and to other project components, as createdby the user to represent understanding, meaning and judgment about theknowledge construct components, whether in the form of a hypothesis,idea or a fully formed set of conclusions or understanding. Continuingthe example for the project “What caused the development of theConstitution?”, meaning statements might include items like “Framers hadsome very different beliefs” and “Big states and little states wanteddifferent approaches.” Meaning statements can be developed at differentlevels of specificity and abstraction, and the present invention assistsin building higher levels of meaning from lower level, or more specificstatements of meaning (as described further in the method and processand representations for the system).

In one embodiment, individual meaning statements as a type or class ofcomponent available to the ITKC are generally uniquely identified bytheir contents. In one embodiment of the present invention, meaningstatements may be assigned a unique number identifier and/or a referenceas well. Although one embodiment of the present invention includesmeaning statements made up of textual characters, the method and systemof the present invention also facilitates the use of drawings, images,and a plurality of other media forms as meaning statements.

In a preferred embodiment, the method and system provide that meaningstatements may exist independently as a part of an integrated construct(i.e., not linked to any other components or group of components of theintegrated construct), or may be linked to any one or more or all of thecomponents of the integrated construct. Links among meaning statementsand between meaning statements and other components of the integratedconstruct may be added, changed, or deleted using the method and systemof the preferred embodiment.

In one embodiment, meaning statements may be assigned a relationship toone another, including but not limited to supporting, contradicting andothers. Meaning statements may also be assigned a lateral relationshipto one another. FIG. 4D illustrates an example of one embodiment of therelationships inherent in the addition of a meaning statement 1242 to anintegrated construct, specifically in the case in which a topic set 22,some information constructs 1422, 1424, and 1426, and an analysisconstruct 1442 have been defined for the integrated constructpreviously. In one embodiment, the relationships between a meaningstatement and another type of component of an integrated construct maysimilarly be constructed and labeled as to its type. For example, ameaning statement may be linked to an analysis construct (or to aportion of an analysis construct) with a link indicating that themeaning statement is “supported by” the analysis construct. Similarly, ameaning statement may be linked to an information construct or a portionof an information construct with a link indicating that the meaningstatement is “not supported by” or “is contradicted by” the informationconstruct or portion of the information construct. In one embodiment,the present invention provides the user with a number of predefined linktypes for their selection and use, included but not limited to linktypes such as “supports”, “contradicts”, “is related to”, and others. Inone preferred embodiment, the present invention also provides the userthe capability to define their own label for the link. Meaningstatements may be linked to one another in hierarchical, lateral orother relationships and also labeled. One preferred embodimentfacilitates the linking of multiple meaning statements to one another atleast partially through hierarchical relationships, to allow thebuilding up of lower level, more specific meaning statements to higherlevel, more comprehensive meaning statements, eventually in support ofthe chosen answer for the project.

As discussed below, in one preferred embodiment, in the case of the useof multiple or alternative answers, one integrated construct may havemultiple sets of meaning statements. These multiple sets of meaningstatements may be related to the respective alternative answers,regardless of the stage of completion of the answer. The presentinvention also provides the user with the ability to create multiplemeaning statement sets as a means of creating alternative “views ofmeaning” across the same or similar sets of knowledge components.Alternative or multiple sets of meaning statements associated with thesame integrated construct may have all, some, or none of the samemeaning statements and linkages associated with them. Similarly,alternative or multiple sets of meaning statements associated with thesame integrated construct may have all, some or none of the sameinformation constructs, analysis constructs, and topics associated withthem.

In one preferred embodiment, the creation of meaning statements providesone means for the system to subset the project as a whole intomeaningful subsets, for work and consideration by the user. Such asubset or individual meaning statement “view” is more fully describedlater in the representation discussion. In a preferred embodiment, thepresent invention also provides for a view of all meaning statementswith their associated supporting observations, importance statements, orother supporting links to knowledge constructs such as informationconstructs and/or analysis constructs.

Answer or Summary Set

Referring back to FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment facilitates thedevelopment of the answer or summary component or answer or summary set26 of the integrated construct 10, that is preferably a portion of thethinking construct 20 of an integrated construct. The answer or summaryset 26 may be made up of textual characters, and/or a drawing, image,graphic, diagram, or a plurality of other information media forms. Theanswer or summary set 26 is preferably linked to the main topic of theintegrated construct, especially in a completed construct. The answer orsummary set 26 preferably may be linked via the link manager to meaningstatements 24. In one embodiment of the present invention, links betweenthe answer or summary set and meaning statements set can be labeled andcategorized, including but not limited to such relationships assupportive or consistent with the answer or summary, or refuting orbeing inconsistent with the answer or summary set. The answer or summaryset may similarly be linked via the link manager to informationconstructs 42, analysis constructs 44, unstructured data 46 or any othercomponent that may be associated with the integrated construct 10.

One embodiment of the present invention provides for the creation of theanswer or summary set 26 which may include one or more answers orsummaries, such as with alternative answers or summaries underconsideration by the user, which may be associated at the same time tothe same integrated construct 10. Similarly, in this embodiment of thepresent invention, the linkages 60 between the multiple answers orsummary and meaning statements or other components can differ, accordingto the specific answer or summary being linked. For example, answer “A”may have links to meaning statements “A,” “B” and “C,” while answer “B”may have links to meaning statement “B,” “D” and “E.”

The answer or summary set is preferably available to the user throughoutthe course of the use of the present invention in developing and editingan integrated construct, and may therefore be changed or added to in thecourse of the project. This enables users to develop initial answers andrefine those answers as the user's work on the project proceeds. Suchactions may be included as the present invention documents and tracksthe user's thinking processes, and subsequently makes such trackingavailable.

In one preferred embodiment, the answer or summary set may also beassociated with a definition by the user of the goals, requirements, orcharacteristics regarding what is important that the answer or summarySet achieve. These goals, requirements, characteristics or otherdescription of what the answer or summary set should be like aresimilarly available to the user throughout the course of the project foradding, editing, or deleting.

One Embodiment of Software Architecture

In one embodiment, the general modules of the software architecture asdepicted in FIG. 3 of one preferred embodiment interact with one anotherin a manner as depicted generally in FIG. 3A. Referring to FIG. 3A, thearchetype process and system of the present invention facilitate theprocess and present options to users in the form of views and availableportions of method or functions. In a preferred embodiment, suchrepresentation may take the form of a graphical user interface, asindicated in block 100. Users may generally select among availableoptions as presented in the views, and signal an action to the presentinvention through a plurality of interaction devices and approaches asdescribed above and indicated in block 110. In the preferred embodiment,the process manager evaluates the user event, as shown in block 302, andmay respond in a number of ways, based on an evaluation of the actiontaken by the user, the history of user actions, archetype process andstructure inference and completion rules, as indicated in block 3000,status of the integrated construct at the time, as evaluated in block320, the specific portion of process being conducted by the user asindicated by their placement in the system at the time, and otherrelevant factors. Options for response to a user event block 110following evaluation block 302 may include, but are not limited to thefollowing: (i) change and re-optimize the view as indicated in block 205and facilitated then by the view manager 200 or similar module; (ii)suggest one or more actions or alternative actions to the user based onthe evaluation of the event (block 302) and ITKC status (block 320) asindicated in block 390 and then represented to the user through the ViewManager, block 200; (iii) create a new component in content and/orstructure as indicated in block 420 and facilitated by the processmanager 400 or similar module; (iv) modify or delete an existingcomponent both with regard to content and/or structure as indicated byblock 420 and facilitated by the process manager 400 or similar moduleand update manager 700 or similar module; (v) create new or modifyexisting (automated or user created) linkages between or amongcomponents as indicated by block 605 and facilitated by the linkagemanager 600 or similar module; and (vi) access and associate externaldata or informational sources as indicated by block 905 and facilitatedby external electronic sources and the update manager or similar module700, which may then be followed by additional user events such ascreating new component, or modifying components as indicated in block420

In this application, the aforementioned software architecture isprovided as one embodiment of the general modules that may be used toimplement and provide the present invention. It should be readilyappreciated, however, that many alternatives in the definition,boundaries and structure of the software modules used to accomplish thecapabilities and functionality of the present invention could beutilized in accordance with the present invention.

Returning again to the overall software architecture of one embodimentof the present invention as depicted in FIG. 3, the general modules ofthe architecture of one embodiment are described in greater detailbelow. The description of the Process Manager and the method and processof the present invention is below, followed by further description ofthe other software architecture modules of one embodiment, and later adescription of a set of representations that provide the method andprocess to the user in one embodiment.

Process Manager: Method and Process

Returning again to FIG. 3, the process manager 300 or similar modulesfacilitate the archetype process. Referring to FIG. 3A, the processmanager (blocks 300, 400 and further detailed in additional charts usingthe 500's series) evaluates the user event (block 302) and accordinglyprovides a response to the user that facilitates the method and processof the present invention, whether to change the view through the viewmanager (block 205), provide a suggestion to the user through theprocess manager suggestor (block 390), provide and allow the user toselect among process portions being provided in the present view (block405), whether the user chooses to access process portions such asassistance tools or others, (block 410), or to create or modify an ITKCcomponent (block 420), create or modify a link through the linkagemanager (block 600) or access external electronic information sources(block 800). The process manager further evaluates the user event (block302) and the status of the ITKC components and structure (block 320),and determines if suggestions are warranted (block 370) based on anumber of evaluation and inference approaches, including the archetypeprocess and structure (block 3000) described in further detail below. Inconjunction with the guiding nature of the design of the representationsand views provided by the present invention, the process manager thusfacilitates a guided process for the user which emulates the thinkingand working methods used by expert problem solvers with regard toarbitrary problems and inquiry based projects and responds to usersactions throughout the course of the project. In one preferredembodiment, the user has the choice of (i) ignoring the suggestion(s)made by the process manager, (ii) acting on the specific suggestion, or(iii) saving the suggestion for future consideration.

The portions of the archetype process can be used individually, as atotal set, or in any subset combination, depending upon the user's needsfor a particular project. Portions of the integrated construct methodand process include the following major components that are shown inFIG. 5. In one embodiment, the method and process provided by thearchetype process generally include the following thinking and workingfunctions: (i) project initiation as indicated by block 510; (ii)definition of project goals and problem as indicated by block 520; (iii)definition of and revision of project structures, being structures forthinking and working as indicated by block 540; (iv) determining andrevising a project plan and to do list as indicated by block 535 (v)evaluating progress and deciding what thinking and knowledge work to donext, as indicated in block 550; (vi) selecting the appropriate subsetfor thinking and working, as indicated in block 555; (vii) conductingresearch and gathering information, as indicated in block 560; (viii)organizing information, especially through constructing, formattingand/or acquiring information for information constructs to be includedin the integrated construct for the project as indicated by block 562:(ix) developing and associating analyses to the project, and definingand constructing analysis constructs to be included in the integratedconstruct for the project as indicated by block 564; (x) developingconclusions and meaning, especially through defining and constructingthe set of meaning statements to be included in the integrated constructas indicated by block 570; (xi) developing and constructing the overallanswer or summary set or portion of the integrated construct for theproject as indicated by block 580; (xii) evaluating whether the answeror summary set is complete, and has met the goals and answered or solvedthe original problem as indicated by block 585; and (xiii) creating andformatting the presentational version of the project results, asindicated by block 590. Throughout process portions (i) to (xiii), thelinkage manager defines and manages linkages among and between thecomponents of the integrated construct, as described more fully in thediscussion of the linkage manager (as indicated by block 600 on FIG. 3A)below.

FIG. 5 depicts example navigation paths that generally may be providedbetween the major method and process work portions of the archetypeprocess. Referring to FIG. 5, the process in one embodiment ispreferably modular and generally enables multiple starting or entrypoints, and flexible iteration or mobility between the intermediateprocess portions within general guiding approaches facilitated by thearchetype process. In a preferred embodiment, the archetype providesguidance to the user according to approaches preferred by expert problemsolvers, but also generally enable navigation between many of theprocess portions. In a preferred embodiment, the ability to navigate toportions of process which are deemed less immediately related to thecurrent process portion for the user are made available in less easilyvisible or accessible ways, such as through the use of a drop down menu,or visually depicted in a more removed location, as described more fullyin the view description, as one means to help guide the user along thepreferred navigational paths. The system generally also provides theability to move between levels of detail within and between the processsteps, as described herein. It should be appreciated that the method andprocess functions may be performed at additional points in the overallprocess in accordance with the present invention.

In a preferred embodiment, portions of the archetype process and methodsmay be provided and differentiated to the user in several ways,including but not limited to: (i) through the view which is presentedand which may focus the user on a portion of the process or a specifictype of thinking and knowledge work they have selected or has beensuggested by the process manager, based on the archetype process orarchetype structure, that needs to be done; (ii) through the set ofinterrelated views which are presented and which provide to the useraccess to portions of process and/or methods in useful combinations withportions of the content and structure of the integrated construct, asdescribed more fully below (iii) through the overall visual map oroverview of the project that is provided by the system and which helpsindicate to the user the degree of completeness and which types ofthinking or problem solving approaches have been used or accessed vs.those which have not been used or accessed, (iv) direct suggestions tothe user, as described more fully below, and others. In one embodiment,some portions of process and methods may be encapsulated and presentedto the user as a software “tool,” or subset of method and functionality,as in a tool to construct new information constructs, a tool toconstruct new analysis constructs, a tool to provide help andsuggestions regarding the selection and construction of the topic set.It should be readily appreciated that providing the same functionalityin different encapsulations or boundaries for such logic is inaccordance with the present invention.

Process Manager Guidance of User Interaction and ITKC Development

The preferred embodiment provides an approach to guiding the thinkingand knowledge activities for a user to develop their thinking about anarbitrary problem through evaluating the user's actions and progress,and determining suggestions based on the archetype structure andarchetype process. The present invention's visual depiction of thearchetype project structure (representing content, structure,relationships, and thinking and working process) and the more detailedthinking modes or views provided by the present invention provideongoing guidance and feedback to the user regarding the portions ofthinking process they have done and should consider doing, as describedmore fully below. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3B, the process managerevaluates the user event (block 302), tracks the user event (block 304)to update the user history (block 330) and determines the process stepand work underway by the user by evaluating the event, block 306. Theprocess manager suggestor then determines if there are identifiableprocess gaps or lapses that have occurred (and especially changed withthe last user event) by applying the archetype process rules in block3100, to the current user event and situation. Specifically, the processmanager may evaluate the specific working views being used by the user,the assistance tools being accessed, and the amount of interaction andtime being spent in various regions or subsets of their ITKC. Suchevaluation might determine, for example, that the user has not beenfocusing on the problem according to a subtopic specific view yet, or isusing the question help tool but without results. Referring further toblock 310 in FIG. 3B, the archetype process inference rules are alsoused as the basis for determining suggestions that might be made toassist the user, in areas that are not strictly gaps or lapses, butrather point out possible next steps.

Continuing with FIG. 3B, the process manager in a preferred embodimentalso evaluates the ITKC under construction by the user (block 320 anddescribed in further detail below), based on the archetype structureinference engine, and any suggestions so determined are combined withthose defined based on the archetype process evaluation and inferences,as shown in step 370. In a preferred embodiment, the system also checksfor secondary or combination impacts based on the two sources ofevaluation and both archetype process and archetype structure. Forexample, if the archetype structure evaluation determines that the userhas primarily been building meaning statements but they are not wellsupported by information or analysis, then the archetype process mayneed to also determine whether they have in fact been searchingelectronic sources yet. In a preferred embodiment, after suggestions areappropriately combined as indicated in block 370 in FIG. 3B, then theprocess manager suggestor may optimize the suggestions, as indicated inblock 385 through ordering and prioritizing algorithms that may berelated to the user event that has occurred, the status of the ITKC andother factors. In block 390, the process manager suggestor provides thesuggestions to the view manager and the suggestions are provided to theuser appropriately.

The inferences and rules used by the archetype process and the archetypestructure to identify suggestions for users are different based upon thesystem's assessment of the current stage or phase of the ITKC.

Referring to FIGS. 3B-10, the process by which the user's ITKC isevaluated against the archetype structure is now described. As aconsequence of a user event, the process manager suggestor in block 322FIGS. 3B-10, evaluates the status of the ITKC components and linkages,with regard to the components that have been selected and included bythe user, the level of structure of those components, the amount ofinformation in the components, and their relationship with one another.In FIGS. 3B-10, block 324, the process manager suggestor then appliesthe archetype structure inference and completion rules, in block 3200,in order to identify gaps or lapses in the ITKC the user has built sofar, as indicated in block 324. For example, the process managersuggestor may determine that certain subtopics are as yet withoutinformation, or that some meaning statements are better supported byknowledge constructs than others. Following the identification oflapses, the process manager suggestor similarly applies the archetypestructure inferences and completion rules in order to identifysuggestions that may be made to assist the user, as indicated in block326. Such suggestions may be based not only on the inferences associatedwith the core or macro archetype structure, but significantly onapplying rules based on the actions and selections that have been takenby the user thus far. For example, if a user has identified that theyare working on a sequence in a project, and many of their informationconstructs contain dates, then the archetype structure inferences mayidentify the suggestion that the user try a timeline. In both theapplication of the archetype process and the archetype structure, thepreferred embodiment incorporates a dynamic application of rules andinferences in response to decisions and choices made by the user (orchoices made by another user such as a teacher, as defined elsewhereherein). These customized or dynamically applied inferences aretherefore in addition to inferences and rules that may apply throughoutthe course of the project.

Continuing with FIGS. 3B-10, the process manager suggestor lastly in apreferred embodiment will search and evaluate relevant fields of theITKC, preferably beginning with those that have most recently changedand the fields that are most closely related to those changed fields, asindicated in block 330. In one embodiment, the process manager suggestorsearches for content specific matches to a set of archetype structureinferences that are content based. For example, the process suggestormanager may search topic fields for phrases that the archetype structureidentifies as having relationships to other archetype components.Specific examples are described below. As with the other archetypeevaluations, as shown in block 332, in this embodiment, if the processmanager suggestor identifies matches to encoded relationships, then thearchetype structure inferences in block 3200 will identify a potentialsuggestion to be made to the user. For example, if the topic the userhas entered is “What caused the development of the Constitution?”, theprocess manager suggestor might suggest the user consider a timeline. Aswith the other archetype suggestions, the process manager then combinessuggestions or lapses determined through content evaluation with thosedetermined about structure through the archetype structure evaluation,as indicated in block 334.

In one embodiment, suggestions determined by the process manager mayinclude but not be limited to suggestions regarding: 1.) specific typesof components or advances in components the user may want to consideradding next; 2) other views and therefore other thinking or work focithat the user may want to select next; 3.) one or more informationconstructs, analysis constructs, topics/questions, meaning statements,or answer(s) which the user may want to revisit and review, 3.) linkagesor relationships which the user may want to add, revisit and review; 4.)specific activities that the user may want to consider next, such asadditional research, revisiting and revising their questions/topics,reviewing data they have collected so far, and others. In one embodimentof the present invention, the user is also able to add their own generalrules or principles regarding the process they believe works best forthem, in one example as thinking prompters, as described below.

In a preferred embodiment, the Process Manager may utilize a number ofapproaches to accomplish these evaluations and determine if one or moresuggestions should be made to the user. It should be readily appreciatedthat an approach for determining guidance that may be useful in one typeof ITKC component or thinking and knowledge activity may be employed inother types of components or activities as well. Further examples oftypes of inferences that may be made by the process manager suggestor inone embodiment may include the following:

1.) The process manager may determine suggestions based on comparing theexistence, number, and linkages of components of the ITKC constructed bythe user to those expected or desired for the archetype or exemplarystructure. For example, an exemplary project may be expected to havemeaning statements that are supported by one or more knowledgeconstructs (whether analysis constructs, information constructs, orunformatted information). In this embodiment, a meaning statement thathas no knowledge construct support linked to it at the time may beevaluated by the process manager as an indication of work yet to be doneby the user. Additional examples of such gaps between an exemplaryproject and a project as completed by the user may include items suchas: topics that have little or no information or knowledge linked tothem, and others. In this embodiment, the present invention's definitionof the exemplary or archetype taxonomy of a inquiry based projectprovides a basis for gap analysis to the ITKC being developed by theuser that would not be possible without such an archetype.

2.) The process manager suggestor may evaluate the user event history.For example, if most user events have been occurring in the research anddata gathering regions of the system, or if the user has focusedprimarily on a topic by topic view and has not yet looked at the meaningthat has been developing, the present invention may suggest the user “goto” the complementary or so far little used views or regions next. Inone embodiment of the invention, the process manager provides a usersuch as a teacher with the ability to set parameters for how muchemphasis the student should place on different thinking and knowledgeactivities and views, or how much time is to be spent accordingly, asdiscussed elsewhere herein.

3.) In one embodiment, the process manager may determine suggestionsbased on evaluating information entered by the user into the ITKC, anduse of project component and relationship rules. For example, in oneembodiment, the present invention may evaluate the text entered by theuser into the main topic structure (for example, “What caused thedevelopment of the Constitution?” and may suggest a subtopic “Whatevents led up to the Constitution?”

4.) In one embodiment, the process manager may determine suggestionsbased on identifying patterns within similar types of constructs. In oneembodiment, the process manager may for example, examine and use theoccurrence of patterns such as the same phrase multiple times inunstructured data notes as the basis to suggest to the user to create aninformation construct or grouping of the unstructured information forthat phrase.

5.) Referring to block 350, in one embodiment, the process manager maydetermine suggestions for transitive relationships between informationconstructs, meaning statements, and any ITKC component which may be sologically related. For example, if information construct A has beendesignated through a labeled link as “like” another informationconstruct B, and information construct B has been similarly designatedby the user as “like” a third information construct C, then the processmanager may prompt the user whether information construct A is also“like” information construct C. Such labeled links may also be used bythe process manager to suggest other components to the user.

6.) Providing of thinking and working prompts or suggestions that arerelated to the specific portion of work being conducted by the user. Forexample, in one embodiment, the present invention preferably includes aset of thinking prompts for each analysis construct provided by theinvention, to assist the user in making meaning from the analysisconstruct. For example, the timeline might include the availability ofthinking prompters like “What things were going on at the same time?” Inone embodiment of the present invention, a user is able to add their ownthinking prompts to components or views for future use.

It should be appreciated that the fact that the present inventionprovides a common taxonomy for components and structure of an ITKC,together with a modular but guided thinking and working process, inconjunction with the use of semantic and other methods readilyunderstood by those skilled in the art, may be used to provide a richset of suggesting abilities in the present invention. It should also beappreciated that such evaluating and guiding approaches may be used incombination with one another, and that the addition of similar types ofinference and suggesting abilities does not depart from the scope andintent of the present invention.

Returning to FIG. 3B, block 304, in one embodiment, the process managertracks and evaluates actions taken by the user, and updates the historyof user events as indicated in block 330. In one embodiment, the userevent history may include some, all or any of the following: the useractions taken (which may be measured both in terms of interactions andin terms of time spent), the view and/or component the user had activein their display at the time those actions were taken, the recenthistory of any suggestions that may have been offered by the processmanager, the user response to such suggestions, the status of theintegrated construct content and linkages at the time, and otherrelevant tracking data. As the integrated construct is likely to beconstructed during multiple use sessions, the user event history mayalso differentiate such user history for specific use sessions,including the tracking of date and time spent by the user. In oneembodiment, the user event history tracks time duration between specificactions, as well as time spent on each view and/or component. In oneembodiment, changes in the content of the integrated construct are alsotracked as part of the user history. It should be appreciated that anyaction and change made with regard to user actions and/or the content,linkages or structure of the integrated construct may be tracked,evaluated, applied against project completion rules, and subsequentlymade available for reporting and review in accordance with the presentinvention.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the process manager stores“snapshots” of the integrated construct as part of the project userhistory. For example, a “snapshot” of the integrated construct—includingits content, structure, and linkages—may be taken and stored at the endof each use session. In an alternative embodiment, the project assigner(such as a teacher) or the user may select how often and under whatcircumstances they wish to “snapshot” their integrated construct. Forexample, a teacher may want the integrated construct “snapshot” viewtaken every half hour or every hour during the student's project. Theability to compile and store a “snapshot” of the integrated construct ismade meaningful at least in part because the component types of theintegrated construct differentiate thinking and knowledge content andactivity types. In one embodiment, the series of “snapshots” of theintegrated construct provide another mechanism by which the thinking andwork processes used in the completion of a project may be tracked,mapped, and made available for further consideration of how the userworks or should work best.

In this manner, the Process Manager acts as an expert system componentof the present invention, orchestrating a dialogue and providingsuggestions to the user about the generalized inquiry project andproblem solving process.

The following generally describes a course activity through the methodand process of the present invention, as facilitated by the archetypeprocess. This method and process description provides a delineation offunctionality generally provided by the present invention, inconjunction with the views and representations which are the primarymechanisms for delivering the functionality, which are described infurther detail later. The following description of the steps or portionsof the method and process components of the present invention isprovided in a logically linear fashion. However, it should beappreciated that one advantage of the present invention is that the usercan navigate across and between the portions of the method and processflexibly, and through a plurality of paths, as indicated above withrespect to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C, within the guided approaches providedby the representations and process manager suggestions and otherapproaches, as described elsewhere herein.

In the following description, the terms “project” and “integratedconstruct” may be used interchangeably.

Method and Process: Project Initiation and Defining Integrated ConstructTitle or Label

Referring to FIG. 5, specifically block 510, in order to use the methodand process of the present invention and initiate an integratedconstruct, the present invention may prompt the user for the user nameor identifier. If the user has previously defined a user name oridentifier in the system, the user may type in the name or identifier,and is subsequently asked for their password in order to access thesystem and any previously created or saved files. If the user has neverset up a user name or identifier before, or wishes to define a separateuser account for any reason, then the system may provide a function toenter a new user name or identifier and password for a new account. Themethods and technical approaches for implementing such a “sign on” canbe conventional. Similarly, any suitable approach which provides for theidentification and recognition of users and their associated integratedconstructs in a manner which provides protection (when desired) andaccess to the integrated constructs previously created by any user, andwhich subsequently facilitates the use of the method and system of thepresent invention may be employed in accordance with the presentinvention.

In one embodiment, once a user has successfully entered the system, thepresent invention may prompt the user with a number of optionalfunctions such as: (i) creating a new project/integrated construct; (ii)reviewing and/or subsequently editing an existing project/integratedconstruct; or (iii) reviewing integrated constructs saved for access bythe user but originally created by other users, and others. In oneembodiment of the present invention, suitable presentational indicationsmay be made for the integrated constructs or projects that are currentlyunder construction as well as those that are completed. In anotherembodiment, projects already completed may be grouped or categorized andsubsequently labeled.

In one embodiment, an integrated construct is generally initiated uponthe assignment of a title, label or other unique identifier for theproject. If the user enters a title label that has been enteredpreviously, the present invention may identify the previously enteredintegrated construct and prompt the user whether to overwrite thepreviously existing project, or provide a different title label tocreate a new project. Similarly, if the main topic statement that isentered is identical to a main topic previously created, the presentinvention may identify the previously created main topic and prompts theuser with a number of options such as the option to: (i) overwrite thepreviously created integrated construct and main topic; (ii) create anew integrated construct with the same main topic; and (iii) create anew integrated construct and a new main topic. Selection of theseoptions, prompted by the process manager and displayed by the viewmanager, is accomplished more specifically through the user interactionmechanisms described in greater detail in other sections herein.

Upon entering a title or label for the new integrated construct, aunique reference for a new integrated construct is preferably created,and can subsequently be displayed or depicted according to therepresentational approaches described more fully herein. Accessattributed to this unique identifier includes the underlying content andstructure of the new integrated construct in its respective stage ofcompletion, including any linkages among or between the components ofthe integrated construct, and the appropriate representation thereof. Ina preferred embodiment, representation of a newly created integratedconstruct may include delineation of regions or components of theintegrated construct which have been created or which are inferred asneeded by the present invention based on the archetype structure and/orarchetype process but are in the project's earliest stages void ofcontent, but may still be visible and accessible to the user (asdescribed elsewhere herein).

In one embodiment, as for a teacher's user, the present invention mayalso allow a user to define guidelines or parameters for the project,which may include but not be limited to items such as the number ofspecific components (such as topics, information constructs, analysisconstructs, etc.), the types of specific components (such as types ofinformation constructs, for example), the characteristics of specificcomponents (such as formatted vs. unformatted, or including certainfields, or having at least a certain number of levels, for example), andother characteristics. In addition to such parameters, a preferredembodiment allows another user, such as a teacher, to provide contentspecific starting points for the ITKC, and the setting of rules for thearchetype process or structure.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a user has the ability tomake only portions of the method and process and integrated constructavailable for a project, as might be done by a teacher in order to teachcertain thinking or knowledge related skills to students, or as might bedone for simple projects. For example, a teacher or other projectassigner may wish to have students or other users focus only on portionsof the total method and process and capabilities of the presentinvention. In a preferred embodiment, the project assigner can set upparameters that are later available to the project participant or user,such as project goals, project start date, project end date, and thelike. Also in a preferred embodiment, the project assigner may also“turn on” or “turn off” various parts of the archetype for the durationof the project assignment. For example, a teacher may want students tocreate only a timeline in a particular project as their analysisconstruct. One preferred embodiment of the present invention includes anelectronic, searchable list of all state educational standards for useby teachers in assigning projects. It should be appreciated that anumber of different approaches may be used to structure and assign theproject without departing from the scope of the present invention. FIG.5A indicates the input that a teacher or other source may have on theparameters and initial content for an ITKC in block 5000.

Method and Process: Definition of Project Goals and Project Problem

Referring to FIG. 5, specifically block 520, the archetype process in apreferred embodiment facilitates the user in defining and revising theproject goals and problem or topic definition for the project, asdetailed more fully in FIG. 5A. Referring to FIG. 5A, block 521, in apreferred embodiment, the process manager facilitates the userpreferably in further defining the project by entering a main problem ortopic (for example, in an educational setting, the main topic or problemmight be “What caused the development of the Constitution?”), which canbe in the form of a topic statement, a problem statement, a question, asubject, an issue, or any suitable definition of an area of interest forthe user as noted in the definition of the integrated constructcomponents discussed above. The main topic may be in any suitable mediaform. Referring to block 524 in FIG. 5A, subsequent to the creation of atitle or label and main topic for the integrated construct, the processmanager, together with the view manager, provides for choice by theuser, as indicated. If the user is ready to proceed with definingsubtopics, (or sub-problem statements, sub-questions, sub-subjects,sub-issues or any other subdivision categorization of the area ofinterest) in the integrated construct, the user may choose to proceedwith the process outlined below. For example, for the main topic “Whatcaused the Constitution?”, the user might define subtopics like “Whocreated the Constitution?”, “What is the Constitution?”, “What eventsled up to the development of the Constitution?” or others, in oneembodiment according to the process set forth below. If not, thedefinition of the problem ends. In addition, in a preferred embodiment,the process manager may provide at the same time for the user todocument or enter notes, drawings or graphics or other media as theirinitial thoughts on knowledge and information. In one embodiment, theseunstructured workspaces are labeled to be attributed to starting viewson current knowledge of the user, and starting views on needs foradditional knowledge or analysis. Referring to block 542 in FIG. 5A, theprocess manager in one embodiment also provides for the rapid abilityfor the user to indicate that other project structures are to beincluded in the project (for example, if the user in defining subtopicsor the main topic determines that a timeline is appropriate to use intheir project, they can select one in block 542, and it is createdaccording to block 540 as an “empty” knowledge construct for futurework). As defined elsewhere in this document, in one embodiment, theprocess manager may also make such suggestions to the user both withregard to specific subtopics, other project structures that should beincluded, and others. Subsequent to the creation of a title or label andmain topic for the integrated construct, the process manager of thepresent invention may preferably provide four additional options to theuser, which include but may not be limited to (as described in furtherdetail below): (a) to enter initial comments or a drawing into the mainanswer or summary view component of the integrated construct; (b (d) tonavigate to and proceed with functions associated with the project planand to do's list. However, the method and process provide for thenavigation to and choice of other components of the method, process, andassociated integrated construct components if desired by the user,although the archetype process and navigational paths encourage the userin the more closely related activities as described here.

Referring to FIG. 5A, if the user selects the option to entersubdivisions or other elaboration of the main topic, the process managerin block 525 may provide options including the following: (i) creatingfields for and entering information into a plurality of subdivisions ofthe main topic, and subdividing and linking them appropriately in acustomized fashion directly; and/or (ii) use of the topic/question helpassistance portion or tool as indicated in block 526 (and which is asubset of the total process manager suggestion capability as definedmore fully elsewhere herein) which is available to assist users indefining and revising the topic set, in order to define subdivisions orfurther elaboration of the main topic and subsequent subtopics. In apreferred embodiment, subtopics may be entered as text statements, andmay also take the form of a drawing, image or any other standard orsuitable information form, with or without the inclusion of additionaltext annotation. Using the link manager, links and associations betweenand across levels and individual subtopics may be created, including butnot limited to the level and relationship of the subtopics to the maintopic and to each other. In a preferred embodiment, multiple levels ofsubtopics can be entered and appropriately linked.

FIG. 5B illustrates a flow chart for transactions associated with oneembodiment of an additional topic/question assistance method and processportion or tool provided by as one portion of suggestions by the processmanager suggestor in one preferred embodiment. As illustrated in FIG.5B, in one embodiment, the present invention may display through theview manager the highest level of optional topic/question approachchoices to the user available for such topic set assistance in block5262 (such as by problem type, by academic subject, and others). In oneembodiment, choosing a category or choice will generally lead to theability to review samples of topics and topic structures and potentialselection of the components of the sample topic structures for the userto associate with or input into the integrated construct, as describedmore fully below.

The following discussion refers to FIG. 5B unless otherwise noted. Asshown in block 5264, he user may be presented with categories or classesof model topics, questions or problem statements for selection (forexample, classes of subjects). An example of these topic/questionapproach choices or categories is shown generally in FIGS. 5B-10,depicted in outline form. Upon the selection of the desired category bythe user, shown in block 5265, the process and system in one embodimentmay also present subcategories that are available to the user related tothe category that has been chosen. An example of the use of suchsubcategories is shown in FIGS. 5B-20. It should be appreciated that aplurality of levels of categories could be so used and be in accordancewith the invention. In a preferred embodiment, as described elsewhere,herein, the process manager may also “jump” to a suggested question ortopic, either through navigating the user directly to a lower levelchoice, or by presenting the subtopic suggestion to the user directly,or others. Continuing with FIG. 5B, block 5266, following the selectionby the user of a subcategory, in one embodiment, the topic/questionassistance portion or tool may provide a set of model topics orquestions to the user. An example of one embodiment of such model topicsis shown in FIGS. 5B-30, and an additional example embodiment of suchmodel topics is shown in FIGS. 5B-32. Following selection by the user ofa model topic, in block 5268, the topic/question assistance portion ortool may provide a set of model subtopics for the user. One embodimentfor the presentation of model subtopics for the user are shown in FIGS.5B-40. It should be appreciated, however, that modifications to theexact format or appearance of model topics and model questions can bemade in accordance with the present invention. It should further beappreciated that the function of providing topic/question/problemassistance in this manner can be implemented in a variety of differentforms with regard to the information provided at each node of the modelstructures, in text, or in text supplemented with images, drawings,charts, or audio support. It should also be appreciated that althoughthe example provided herein deals with a category, a subcategory, andthen specific model topics, questions, or problem statements associatedwith that subcategory, additional levels of subcategories may beprovided and selected and navigated in a manner similar to the mannerillustrated herein in accordance with the present invention and the roleof the categories, sub-categories and model topics, questions or problemstatements within the larger system as a whole. Options provided to theuser by the process manager from such a display of model subtopicsinclude, but are not limited to the following: (a) selecting the modeltopics, questions or problem statements individually (or as sets) “asis” for inclusion within the topic structure of their integratedconstruct (as indicated in block 5269 in FIG. 5B); (b) selecting themodel, topics, questions, or problem statements and subsequently editingthose statements as they see fit, according to standard editingtechniques, for inclusion within the topic structure of their integratedconstruct; or (c) proceeding with entering subtopics directly, withoutreferencing or using the model subtopics, questions, or problemstatements offered by the system. If the user desires to include a modeltopic (question, problem, subject or issue statement) offered by thetopic/question help tool, the user generally indicates their “selection”of the model topic. The selected model topic is placed into orassociated with the topic set of the integrated construct currentlyunder construction, indicated by block 5269 and the update manager block500. The user is free to either leave the model topic “as is” or editthe model topic as they see fit. The method, process and system of thepresent invention enable the user to review and subsequently edit theirtopic structure throughout the course of their project as they wish. Itshould be appreciated that the Process Manager of the present inventionmay track and respond to actions by the user with regard to the topicset, such as prompting the user if the user indicates the desire todelete a topic or question that has knowledge constructs associated withit, as to whether the user wishes to delete the associated knowledgeconstructs as well, or leave them as part of the integrated construct,or associate them with a new or alternative topic or question, and otheractions.

FIGS. 4A-10 is an example of topic set for an example project, “Whatcaused the Constitution?”

Referring to FIG. 5 block 535, in one embodiment, the process manager'sfacilitation of a user's or users' definition of a problem or main topicin block 520 results in the creation of a project structure, namely thecreation of a topic set. In a preferred embodiment, the topic set maytherefore be the first project structure of the archetype structure tobe created, and serves as a means to subset the project into meaningfulportions for thinking and knowledge work.

Referring to FIG. 5, block 535, the process manager in one embodimentprovides for the creation of a project plan for the project beinginitiated. As used herein, the project plan may be facilitated by thepresent invention in a number of different forms, from very unstructurednotes and/or drawings, to a more formalized plan for activities that theuser believes needs to be done. In one preferred embodiment, thecreation of any project structures is then indicated in and addedautomatically to the project planning view for the user. In onepreferred embodiment of the present invention, the project plan isavailable to the user throughout the course of the project development.As described further below, in a preferred embodiment, various viewsprompt the user for additional notes regarding items to consider doingnext or in future, or items or additional notes on other questions theyhave defined. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, theprocess manager collects such notes together and provides them to theuser as input to development of a project plan.

In one embodiment, the present invention may provide a number of modelprojects or templates from which the user can select in order tostructure their project initially. Selecting such model projects ortemplates allows for the creation of a skeleton project in a quick startfashion, and may include a plurality of components, such as startingtopics, starting information constructs, starting analysis constructs,skeleton or starting meaning statements or alternative answers, as wellas starting or suggestions for activities. In one embodiment of thiscapability, the present invention may provide suggestions and optionsfor project components and activities in response to the selection ofcharacteristics or goals for the project by the user.

In another embodiment, the present invention provides for model ITKC'sfor projects depending upon their problem or project type. It should beappreciated that the design of the archetype structure and archetypeprocess lend themselves ready to additional methods of creating startingpoints for projects, and that these are within the scope of the presentinvention.

Referring again to FIG. 5 block 550, the process manager together withthe view manager provides ongoing mechanisms and in some casessuggestions to the user or users regarding evaluating the ITKC'sprogress and the users actions and deciding what to do next (asdescribed in greater detail elsewhere herein). Such evaluation, togetherwith the ability to easily subset the thinking and knowledge workaccording to approaches and combinations used by expert problem solvers,provide an ongoing ability to develop the thinking and knowledgeassociated with the problem not possible otherwise.

Referring again to FIG. 5, in block 555, the process manager facilitatesand guides the user in selecting the appropriate subset for thinking andworking on the project at various times through the course of theproject's development.

Method and Process: Editing the Integrated Construct

Referring to FIG. 3A, in a preferred embodiment, the process managerprovides the user with the ability to generally review and modify allcomponents that are in existence at that time part of an integratedconstruct. In one embodiment, as described more fully elsewhere herein,the process manager through the view manager may facilitate suchmodification by being selected in a suitable view provided to the userin which they appear. In one embodiment of the present invention, theselection of the integrated construct component occurs through placingthe computer mouse in a position to cause the pointer to appear over theicon or high level representation of the component on therepresentation. In one embodiment, the user then double clicks the iconor high level representation for the integrated construct component, andis presented with access to the detail of the contents, structure,linkages and label for that component. In one embodiment, oneinteraction with regard to a icon or highest level representation of acomponent (such as a double click of a mouse) may present a summary setof information about that component, while a second interaction mayprovide a lower, more detailed level of information about thatcomponent. In another embodiment, a left click on a mouse might presenta summary view of a component while a right click might present alinkage view of that component. Views and representations are describedmore fully in the last section of this document. In this embodiment,elements associated with the selected component are then generallyeditable, through a commonly accepted mechanism for interacting withcomputer software, as long as such elements or the informationconstructs have not previously been designated as “protected in someinstances, as described elsewhere herein, and indicated by block 370 ofFIG. 3A, the process manager may make specific suggestions to the userrelated to modifying components.

Referring again to FIG. 5, the process manager in a preferred embodimentfacilitates the user in conducting research and gathering information tobe associated with their project and integrated construct (block 560),as well as organizing the data and information (chiefly through thecreation of information constructs) as indicated in block 562, and/ordeveloping or associating analyses with the project and integratedconstructs (chiefly through the creation and association of analysisconstructs) as indicated by block 564.

The functions to conduct research, organize information and create,information constructs and develop analyses and analysis constructs intoor to be associated with the integrated construct, are in a preferredembodiment encouraged and made available from a plurality of differentmethod and process and subset view points within the process and system,as indicated by block 555. In a preferred embodiment, the processmanager may facilitate the user in conducting research and developingknowledge constructs from a number of different thinking foci, includingbut not limited to, for example: while focusing on an individual topicor subtopic, while focusing on the development of the set or aparticular analysis construct, while focusing on a specific meaningstatement, and others. As an example, the process and system facilitatesthe user to gather information through research, and add, edit, ordelete knowledge constructs (i.e., information constructs andinformation elements and/or or analysis constructs) to be associatedwith the integrated construct from the workspace shown on the examplerepresentation layout depicted in FIG. 7A, example embodiment of a 3-Dindividual subtopic view. A specific example of one embodiment of thisindividual subtopic representation view is provided in FIGS. 7A-10.

In one such embodiment, for example, with the topic, problem or questionof interest visibly apparent as shown for example in FIG. 7A, theprocess manager focuses the user on a particular subtopic, andencourages the user to conduct knowledge development activitiesaccordingly, including but not limited to: (i) the user can accesselectronic information sources, as described below, while focusing onthe particular subtopic; (ii) the user can peruse and edit the knowledgeconstructs which are already associated with that topic, problem, orquestion, according to any of a number of commonly accepted editingtechniques and described more fully below; (iii) the can also choose toenter data and information items into a new or an existing knowledgeconstruct, directly and/or from other available electronic informationsources or data provided via networks, including but not limited to theInternet or an Intranet; (iii) the user can choose to create a newknowledge construct to be associated with the particular subtopicselected; and (iv) the user is encouraged by the process manager todevelop meaning statements focused on the subtopic selected at thatpoint in time, and others. These individual knowledge building functionsare described more fully below.

Similarly, as a further example of block 555 in FIG. 5, the processmanager may suggest or the user may choose to work on their integratedconstruct content and to add or edit knowledge constructs from thereference point shown on the example representation illustrated in FIG.7C, an example embodiment of a 3-D individual meaning statementrepresentation or view. The process and system also enable the user toadd or edit knowledge constructs from the reference point of working onan individual information construct or analysis construct and itsassociated content—or an the set of information constructs or analysisconstructs—as also described in a later section.

Method and Process: Direct Entry of Information

Referring back to FIG. 5, as a part of block 560, in one embodiment, thepresent invention facilitates the user directly entering or associatingdata or information items with a component of the integrated constructusing an input device. In one embodiment of the present invention, theinput device is a computer keyboard. However, it should be appreciatedthat the entry of alphanumerical characters, numbers, symbols, drawings,etc. can be similarly achieved through other specific data entrymechanisms in accordance with the present invention (as described hereinregarding user interaction approaches).

In one embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 3A block 302, the system monitorsthe user's position relative to the representation being provided.

When the user selects a displayed portion or component of the integratedconstruct, the process manager generally provides the detailed view ofthe selected component or portion, via the view manager. Therepresentation then generally enables the user to enter information intothe fields or entry space as provided for the selected components and/oradjust the format of the information. The information being entered maybe generally in the form of alphanumeric characters, a drawing, orgraphic depiction (in addition to the many forms of information that maybe associated with or entered into the integrated construct as describedabove). Information previously entered and generally associated with theselected integrated construct component generally is subsequently madeavailable for editing, additions, or deletion, as described above. Inone preferred embodiment, he process and system of the present inventionalso allows for the entry by the user of information into a data storagearea which may not be associated with any specific component of theintegrated construct, but rather is to be associated with the integratedconstruct as a whole, primarily in the form of an unstructuredinformation construct. Any information so entered or edited may besubsequently associated with previously or newly created labels ortitles of components or information elements.

Method and Process: Entry of Information From Other Electronic Sources

Referring again to FIG. 5E, block 905, the process manager in onepreferred embodiment facilitates access to and copying of or referencingto information from any source which allows such copying or associatingto be accomplished, and in any suitable media form of electronicinformation.

Referring to FIG. 5E, which illustrates the general process fortransactions associated with acquiring information from other electronicsources, in one embodiment of the present invention, the process managerdetects the event of the user selection of the function to conductelectronic research as indicated in block 905. Alternatively, the usermay leave the present invention and independently launch a browser oropen another electronic information source, and the process manager willfacilitate the adding or associating of electronic content in a mannerwhich is the same in FIG. 5E for steps 910 through 920. Upon detectionof the event in block FIG. 5E 905, the process manager may generallysuspend or otherwise hold the functions of the process and system of thepresent invention underway at that time, and provide the user with theability to or otherwise allows the user to either launch the Internetbrowser or open the other external electronic information source. In oneembodiment, the selection of the browser or other electronic source isdetermined by user options associated with project initiation and setup(as for example, in the setting of the default or preferred browser, orthe preselection of specific electronic sources, as might be done by ateacher in assigning a project), as indicated in FIG. 5E block 515. Inone embodiment, the present invention provides a button or othersuitable device to the user specifically to initiate the use of otherelectronic information sources, as indicated in FIG. 5E, block 907. Forpurposes of illustration, the following description focuses on theacquisition of information via an Internet browser. However, it shouldbe appreciated that the process for including information from otherelectronic sources that allow such access and use are accomplished ingenerally a similar manner.

Continuing with FIG. 5E, in block 908, the process manager may promptthe user with whether the user wishes to automatically enter aparticular subtopic or main topic into the target information source'ssearch field (and this may be specified in advance as part of useroptions block 515, as described above). If such automatic entry isdesired, the process manager sends the subtopic or topic content to theelectronic search field, as indicated by FIG. 5E block 808. If not, inone embodiment, uupon launch of an Internet browser (or similar launchor opening of an available electronic information source), the Internetbrowser may be made visible and actionable to the user, along with therepresentation selected at that time of regions and components of theintegrated construct. Access to several functions associated with themethod and process of the present invention are preferably availablegenerally at the same time that perusal of the electronic information asnoted above occurs.

Referring to FIG. 5E, in one embodiment, the process manager or similarmodule monitors inputs from the user concerning placement on thecomputer screen or other display device. In one embodiment, the processmanager may provide to the user the ability to send a transaction ormessage from the present invention to launch an Internet browser orotherwise open or launch another source of electronic information. Inanother embodiment, the process manager tracks the location of the mousepointer or cursor on or in the representation or display, and notifiesthe process manager whether the user is positioned and activated withinthe representation of the present invention, or is currently positionedoutside of the representation of the present invention. In oneembodiment, if the cursor or other display mechanism has left therepresentation of the present invention and is positioned and activatedgenerally on or over the Internet browser or other electronicinformation source shown concurrently as described above, the processmanager generally may complete any transactions currently underway inthe integrated construct system, and may suspend or otherwise holdsactivity within the integrated construct system, and waits until thecursor or other display and interaction mechanism is once againactivated over or in the representation area being taken for display ofthe present invention before initiating further action. The methods forevaluating the position of a cursor, mouse pointer or other similarmarker mechanism relative to a screen or other display device, andmonitoring the interaction of the user with regard to becoming active onor in different areas shown in the representation are well known tothose skilled in the art, and can be accomplished by a plurality ofapproaches in accordance with the present invention. In addition, manyapproaches could accomplish the accessibility of the ITKC to theInternet or similar sources and still be in accordance with the presentinvention.

Once launched or opened, as indicated in FIG. 5E block 910, in oneembodiment, the Internet browser programs or electronic source programsmay generally respond to and control the user's interaction with thebrowser or electronic source program. In one embodiment, as the userviews and interacts with the Internet browser or other similarlyprovided electronic information set, the Internet browser or otherelectronic information programs control and enable the user in searchingfor, finding, and reviewing information of interest. In this embodiment,the ability to copy electronic information in the form of text, images,graphs, videos, or other standard forms is similar to that possiblethrough other widely available and well understood approaches.

One embodiment of adding electronic information to the integratedconstruct with the present invention includes the following: referringto FIG. 5E block 911, using the functions provided by the Internetbrowser of choice, the user uses the mouse pointer, cursor or otherinteraction mechanism to select and highlight a section of text, image,or any other standard form of electronic information within the Internetbrowser or other electronic information source. The user may then usethe functionality readily available in the Internet browser (or manyelectronic information sources today) to copy the selected informationfrom the Internet browser or other electronic information source asindicated in FIG. 5E block 912. The user may then move the cursor orother interaction mechanism from the space that has been allocated forthe representation of the Internet browser (or other electronicinformation source) to the representation space of the presentinvention, as indicated in Figure block 913. In one embodiment of thepresent invention, the user may then provide a reactivation input to theview and/or process manager, as indicated by FIG. 5E block 913, whichmay be a click of the computer mouse to signal the user has selected aposition within the integrated construct representation space.Continuing with this illustration, in FIG. 5E block 915 the processmanager in one embodiment facilitates the user in selecting an availablecomponent of the integrated construct as it exists and is displayed atthat time or the user may select the function to create a new componentof the integrated construct through mechanisms described elsewhereherein. As indicated in FIG. 5E block 916, in one embodiment, the usermay then paste the previously copied information or information elementinto or to be otherwise associated with the selected component of theintegrated construct. Alternatively, in one embodiment, the user maycreate a new component of the integrated construct, as describedelsewhere in this document, and then paste the previously copiedinformation into or to be associated with the newly created component ofthe integrated construct. It should be appreciated that the precisemechanism for accomplishing this copying and pasting can be achievedthrough a plurality of approaches, and that any such suitable mechanismscan be used in accordance with the present invention.

In one embodiment upon pasting the previously copied electronicinformation into or to be associated with the desired component of theintegrated construct, the process manager is notified by the transactionthat completes the paste that such an entry has occurred. Referring toFIG. 5E block 917, the process manager may in one embodiment generallymonitor that an “entry” has occurred, and prompts the user to enterinformation regarding the source of the electronic information that hasjust been copied. In one embodiment of the present invention, theprocess manager or other similar module may provide the web address thatwas active at the time the information was copied as the starting point.In another embodiment, the process manager may also provide the userthrough the view manager with the ability to enter additionalinformation regarding the source of the copied information. In onepreferred embodiment, such source information is thereafter associatedwith the information that has been so acquired for the integratedconstruct.

In one embodiment, the process manager may provide a field toaccommodate the entry of additional information regarding the title andbibliographic information regarding the information item that has beenentered. In a preferred embodiment, the process manager may also providea field in which the user can enter additional notes about the source.In another embodiment, the process manager may also provide the userwith an ability to evaluate the source used for the information. In oneembodiment of the present invention, the user may also be provided witha number of criteria and the ability to enter a ranking associated witheach of these criteria. In another embodiment of the present invention,the user may also be provided with a field or fields in which to entercomments about their evaluation of the source for the copiedinformation. It should be appreciated that a number of data formats maybe provided to the user with regard to adding information regarding thesource for the copied information in accordance with the presentinvention. When the user has completed the user's desired amount ofentering of information or comments regarding the source used for thecopied information, the user generally enters an input to the processmanager that the user has completed entering the additional informationabout the source for this entry and evaluation session. Referring toFIG. 5E block 919, in a preferred embodiment, the user may then continuewith further information searching and retrieval, or resume otherprocess portions of the present invention.

In one preferred embodiment, the process manager also evaluates theamount of information being copied from an open source and provides awarning to the user when the amount exceeds copyright limits.

Referring to FIG. 5E, as shown in block 110 and block 205, in onepreferred embodiment, throughout the course of searching, locating, andretrieving or copying any desired electronic information, the processmanager provides the ability to the user to change the view which iscurrently displayed by the present invention, as described more fully ina later section of the document.

Method and Process: Creating a New Unformatted Information Construct

Referring to FIG. 5, the process manager and archetype processfacilitates the organizing of information through the definition,population, and revision of information constructs as indicated in block562. Referring to FIG. 5C, which illustrates one embodiment of thecreation of a new information construct. Referring to FIG. 5C, when theuser selects the option to create a new information construct block5621, the process manager or similar module may prompt the user for aname or title to assign to that new information construct as indicatedin block 5622, and provide a field into which the user can enter analphanumeric character string, drawing, or picture to represent thelabel or title to be associated with the information item within theintegrated construct. The entry of information and interaction by theuser may occur using any suitable entry mechanism.

In a preferred embodiment, if the user event is in response to asuggestion that has been made by the process manager, as indicated inblock 5623, then the process manager creates the new informationconstruct as specified by the process manager suggestions, as indicatedin block 5628. In one embodiment, the user is provided the opportunityto accept or decline this new suggested information construct in anadditional verification event. Continuing with FIG. 5C, if the userevent is not the result of response to a process manager suggestion, inone embodiment, the process manager generally evaluates that a new labelor title has been entered for an information construct, and checks tosee whether an identical label for an information construct has beencreated previously, as indicated in block 5625. If there is a matchbetween a previously created label and a new label for the same class ofinformation construct, the process manager generally informs the userthat an identical match has been found, and prompts for whether the userwants to edit the existing information construct, overwrite the existinginformation construct, or change the label to be assigned to the newinformation construct, as indicated in block 5627. In this embodiment,if there is no duplicate information construct determined by the processmanager, the process manager creates a new information construct, inblock 5628 and updates the data bases accordingly through the updatemanager, block 700.

Referring now to FIG. 5D block 5635, in one embodiment of the presentinvention, the process manager may prompt the user, through therepresentation provided by the view manager, for the structure andcontent for the information construct the user desires to create. For anew, unstructured information construct, the process manager facilitatesessentially the same capabilities to the user as described for modifyingan information construct as described below.

Method and Process: Formatting an Information Construct

Referring to FIG. 5D, In one preferred embodiment, the process managerprovides a plurality of types of information constructs available to theuser, including but not limited to the following: People, Places,Things, Media, Ideas, Events, and Issues, available for choice by theuser as indicated in block 5637. In a preferred embodiment, the processmanager also provides the ability for the user to create custom types asindicated by block 5638, allowing the user to create a new category ortype, assign user's own label and provide a description of the type). Ina preferred embodiment, the process manager also provides the user withthe ability to relate information elements to their custom informationconstruct type. In a preferred embodiment, the process manager does notrequire the assignment of type, but provides for information constructsthat are untyped (providing an unstructured note like informationstorage capability). In a preferred embodiment, any informationconstruct custom type created by the user is subsequently available foruse as a type. Upon selection of one of the types of informationconstructs provided, the user may then be presented with severaloptions, including the option to utilize preformatted elements as partof the information construct as indicated in block 5641, create newcustom formatted elements as indicated in block 5642 or the option tostructure the information construct as unformatted, freeform data. Ifthe user chooses to structure the information construct as unformatteddata, the workspace and associated storage provided to the user and tobe associated with the unique information construct label facilitatesthe inclusion of textual characters, drawings, and also for theinsertion or copying and pasting of images, graphs, video, textualcharacters, or drawings as noted in the description of data entry anddata types described elsewhere herein. Referring again to FIG. 5D, theprocess manager also provides the user the ability to enter or changeinformation associated with the information construct, as indicated inblock 5644 and described in further detail herein. An example of oneembodiment of the entry of an unformatted information construct is shownin FIGS. 5D-10. The amount of information allowed to be included andassociated with any information component label will generally vary withthe precise implementation of the present invention, including thecomplexity and scope of the project and integrated construct chosen tobe developed by the user, as well as with regard to the processing powerof the device on which the present invention operates, and therobustness of the data storage and retrieval mechanisms employed. Asstated above, one of the benefits of the present invention is that itprovides thinking and knowledge component structures and formats whichare and can be generally common or similar across very different levelsof complexity of the integrated construct and information, and in theassociated technology employed in any specific implementationcircumstance.

As also generally indicated by block 5639 of FIG. 5D, in the course ofthe user working on their project, the present invention in oneembodiment may also subsequently provide the ability to add or deleteadditional formats to the information elements associated with aninformation construct throughout the use of the method and system. Asmany or as few of the formatted information elements as the user choosescan generally be associated with a particular information construct. Ina preferred embodiment, as indicated in block 5642, the presentinvention provides for the ability of the user to create custominformation elements, with a label and an assigned type, and othercharacteristics. In a preferred embodiment, custom created informationelements are made available to the user for reuse. It should beappreciated that any specific implementation of the present inventionmay make some limiting choices regarding amount of information to beassociated with an information construct, depending upon the processingcapabilities of the technology and data storage and retrieval mechanismsto be used, and the target user audience. For example, in oneeducational embodiment, the amount of information allowed for any oneinformation construct may be limited or otherwise evaluated and flaggedto the user as questionable.

The following is a detailed illustration of one embodiment of thisaspect of the present invention. Upon creating a new informationconstruct (or selecting an existing information construct), in apreferred embodiment, the assignment of a type by the user to theinformation construct may be monitored. Based on the type selected, theuser may be provided with the ability to select among preformattedinformation elements to associate with the information construct beingcreated or edited, as indicated in block 5641. For example, if theinformation construct “James Madison” is identified by the user as beingof the type “Person,” then the preformatted information elementsassociated with the class of information constructs known as “People”may be provided. An example of one embodiment is shown in FIGS. 5D-20,and for a “Person” information construct preformatted informationelements may include for example: birth date, death date, birth place,importance, fun facts, quotes, beliefs, accomplishments, education,family, characteristics, etc. The system may provide the user with theability to select from among these preformatted information elements.Selection of formats for information elements by the user may betracked, and the selected information elements may then be associatedwith the respective information construct label, and made available asdata entry fields to the user. Some of the formatted informationelements may be highly structured, such as birth date and death date.Other formatted information elements may be subsets of informationstorage and work space which will allow the same variety of informationforms as the unformatted information component, but may be designatedunder a sub-label associated with the label for the informationcomponent: for example, “beliefs” may provide a space for informationentry but allows significant freedom by the user in the structure orformat of what information they choose to add or enter.

The present invention therefore may include the provisioning of formatsfor information elements associated with a plurality of categories orclasses of information constructs which may then be provided inrepresentations of the present invention as subsequent data entry andstorage fields. The user may also be provided with the ability to createtheir own classes of information constructs and associated labeled,formatted elements for their later use.

Further referring to FIG. 5D block 5639, the process manager may enablethe user to edit a previously unformatted information construct and addgenerally any or all of the structured formats to the informationelements that may be associated with an information construct. Theoptions and choices available to the user are generally the same orsimilar as those described above.

In one embodiment, if the user selects the option to add formattedelements to an existing information construct, as indicated in block5639 FIG. 5D the present invention may provide the ability for the userto “cut and paste” or “copy and paste” information from the general,unformatted workspace associated with the information construct, or froma different formatted element, and place the information into aformatted information element, whether newly or previously associatedwith the information construct. In another embodiment, the presentinvention may enable the user to highlight or otherwise mark a sectionof information. A highlighted portion may also be associated with aninformation element format. The newly created formatted informationelement is generally then subsequently associated with the informationconstruct and unique information construct's label, as described above.

As an illustration, if an unformatted information construct labeled“George Washington” has been created, and the user subsequently entersor acquires information to be associated with the “George Washington”information construct, the present invention may allow the user to lateradd a structured information element such as “birth date” to the “GeorgeWashington” construct, and associate a portion of the previously enteredinformation with the structured element “birth date.” The informationmay be associated with the structured element “birth date” via a numberof mechanisms which may include but not be limited to methods such as:(i) cutting and pasting information from unstructured data previouslyassociated with the “George Washington” construct through direct entryas described above; (ii) copying and pasting information from otherelectronic sources, as described earlier herein; (iii) highlighting orotherwise marking a section of information and associating it with aformat for an information element; and (iv) copying and pasting orcutting and pasting information from formatted or unformattedinformation elements associated with other integrated constructcomponents created previously by the user.

As a result, in a preferred embodiment, an information constructassociated with a unique label can then be associated with formatted,structured information elements and unformatted information, or acombination of structured and unstructured information. In a preferredembodiment, an information construct can also be associated with eithera great deal of information, and a high number of labeled informationelements, or may exist as being associated with very little informationas little as the label that uniquely identifies it.

Method and Process: Creating a New Analysis Construct

Referring back to FIG. 5, as generally indicated in block 564, themethod and system of the present invention preferably provides for thecreation and editing of analysis constructs as one component type of theoverall integrated construct, specifically as one type of knowledgeconstruct.

For example, for the educational project “What caused the development ofthe Constitution?”, analysis constructs created by the user mightinclude a timeline of events leading up to the Constitution'sratification, a comparison of the beliefs of different framers, andothers. (See also description of analysis construct included as part ofthe description of the integrated construct, included herein).

As detailed in the definition of an analysis construct included above,in a preferred embodiment, an analysis construct as implemented by thesystem can include any information media form. In a preferredembodiment, analysis constructs may contain or be associated with atleast one field that may be a common part of all analysis constructssuch as a field for entering observations or comments about the analysisconstruct as a whole. In a preferred embodiment, this observational orcomment field which may be associated with analysis constructs may bealphanumeric, or contain an image, drawing, graphic or other media formas herein described.

In a plurality of representation views of the integrated construct andat a plurality of points in the method and process of the presentinvention, the process manager may provide the user with the ability tocreate new analysis constructs, to view existing analysis constructs,and edit those constructs, as described elsewhere herein.

Referring to FIG. 5F, which illustrates one embodiment of the processfor creating a new analysis construct, the user may select the option tocreate a new analysis construct. If not already provided in therepresentation in use at the time, the process manager may provide alist or other like representation of the analysis constructs and/oranalysis construct types that have been created previously for theintegrated construct or are otherwise made available to the user forinclusion by the present invention. In another embodiment of the presentinvention, the process manager may allow for the presentation of a listof analysis constructs and/or preformatted analysis construct types thathave been created previously for other integrated constructs as well. Asindicated in block 5642 of FIG. 5F, in one embodiment the processmanager may provide the user with a field in which to enter a label ortitle for the new analysis construct. As with the label or title forinformation constructs, in one embodiment, the label or title for ananalysis construct may be a set of alphanumeric characters, a drawing orany other information media form. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the process manager and update manager may also assign aunique numeric identifier to the new analysis construct.

Referring again to FIG. 5F, n one embodiment of the present invention,upon the user entering a title or label for the new analysis construct(block 5644), the contents of the title or label for the new analysisconstruct may be checked for a match against the title of labelsassociated with previously defined analysis constructs (block 5645). Inone embodiment, if the contents of the new analysis construct label ortitle matches with the contents of the label or title for a previouslycreated analysis construct, the user may be prompted with the a numberof options, including but not limited to the following: (i) edit orchange the existing analysis construct referred to by the label or titlethat has been entered (block 5649); (ii) overwrite or replace theexisting analysis construct with the new analysis construct (block5648); or (iii) change the label or title that has been entered for anew analysis construct to a different label or title (block 5644).

As indicated by block 5648, in one preferred embodiment, once the userhas entered a new unique label or title for a new analysis construct,the system generally creates a reference for the new analysis construct.Thereafter, in that embodiment, the label or title of the new analysisconstruct may generally be available to be used as a reference point forseveral functions such as for the user. (i) o access the contentassociated with the new analysis construct and/or its associatedobservational comment field; (ii) to add to, edit or delete the contentassociated with the new analysis construct and/or its observationalcomment field; (iii) to add, delete or edit the relationships betweenthe analysis construct and information constructs, information elementsor unstructured information, and/or (iv) to link the analysis constructto other integrated construct components such as meaning statements andsubtopics, or other such functions.

Method and Process: Adding Structure and Content to a New or ExistingAnalysis Construct

As further generally illustrated in FIG. 5G, once the process managerhas facilitated the user in creating an analysis construct, the methodand system of the present invention provide several ways for the user tostructure or build the analysis construct and add or associate contentto the analysis construct. As indicated in block 5681, if the user eventis in response to a suggestion that has been made by the processmanager, then the process manager in a preferred embodiment may createthe analysis construct structure, as well as add any suggestedinformation constructs or other content, and modify any suggestedlinkages accordingly. In one embodiment, the process manager presentseach of the suggested substeps to the user for confirmation beforeproceeding. Referring again to FIG. 5G, in one preferred embodiment, theprocess manager provides the user with several options for formattingthe structure of the analysis construct. As indicated in block 5663, theprocess manager may provide the user with a set of preformatted analysistypes, indicated in block 5664. In this embodiment, if the user selectsone of the preformatted analysis construct types, the process managerassigns the selected type to the analysis construct, as indicated inblock 5665 and the resulting analysis construct structure in block 5674.The present invention may provide a plurality of analysis constructtypes to the user, which may include but not be limited to a sequencebuilder analysis construct, a timeline analysis construct, a qualitativecomparison and contrast analysis construct, a cycle analysis construct,a freeform drawing and diagramming analysis construct and others. In oneembodiment, the present invention may provide multiple versions or formsof any given analysis construct type.

Referring again to FIG. 5G, in one embodiment of the present invention,the process manager also provides the user with the ability to createcustom analysis constructs, as indicated in block 5667. In oneembodiment, the process manager provides the ability to define abackdrop or visual context for the analysis construct, as indicated inblock 5668, a structure for the inclusion and relationships ofinformation constructs and information elements (block 5669), theinclusion of one, any or all of a set of tools provided by the processmanager (block 5670) as described more fully below, and the assignmentof a label or title to the analysis construct, and if desired, adescription of the analysis construct's characteristics and use. Basedon these selections and actions, in one embodiment, the process managerthen creates a custom analysis construct (block 5672) and may ask theuser whether the user wants to save the format for future use. In oneembodiment, any such saved custom analysis construct is available forfuture use. Referring again to block 5670, the process manager providesin one embodiment for the user to choose to include any or all of anumber of tools as part of their custom analysis construct, includingbut not limited to: (i) a timeline bar tool, which can be placed as partof an analysis construct and provide the ability to set timeframes andintervals and serve as the basis for visual mapping of informationconstructs or data at the appropriate time position for the time dataelement included; (ii) a linking tool, which can be placed as part of acustom analysis construct and provides for the user to define and labellinks between information constructs, information elements, or othervisual or diagramming components; (iii) a drawing and diagramming tool;(iv) a calculating tool, and others.

Continuing with FIG. 5G, block 5673, the process manager thereforecreates the structured analysis construct object as defined by the useror based on a process manager suggestion above.

Referring then to FIG. 5H, block 5675, in one embodiment of the presentinvention, the process manager provides for several options for the userto add information, information constructs, and information elements toan analysis construct. In one embodiment, these options may include butare not limited to the following: (i), adding or associating links toinformation constructs in block 5676 and/or information elements inblock 5677, to be referenced in or associated with the analysisconstructs, alone or in combination with the other options below; (ii)adding or associating analysis content previously created in otheranalysis software programs which allow the copying and pasting, orreferencing or access to other analysis software programs; and (iii)adding information directly to be associated with the analysis constructor creating new information constructs, in block 5678, and/or (iv)entering or associating information gathered electronically with theanalysis construct, as indicated in block 5679 and described more fullyelsewhere herein.

In one embodiment of the present invention, when a user selects ananalysis construct to add or edit the content associated with thatanalysis construct, the user is presented with a workspace associatedwith the analysis construct. In one embodiment, the analysis constructworkspace generally provides the ability to the user to add alphanumericcharacters, drawing figures and/or graphic representations, as well asinclude or associate images, video or other information forms with theanalysis constructs. The representation of the analysis constructworkspace preferably includes access to the observational comment fieldassociated with the analysis construct, an optional but common fieldacross all analysis constructs. An example of a partially completedanalysis construct of an integrated construct workspace is shown inFIGS. 5H-20.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 5H-10, the process manager mayprovide the user the ability to add to or associate with the analysisconstruct references to the information constructs that have beencreated. The result may be a visible representation within the analysisconstruct workspace that such a reference and link has been made. Theuser can generally place these references to information constructs inany position on the analysis construct workspace while still providingfor access to such items as the title of the analysis construct and anyadditional comment fields.

In one embodiment of the present invention, there are at least two typesof links or associations provided for the user to associate informationconstructs to analysis constructs, as illustrated in FIGS. 5D-10included herein and facilitated by the linkage manager. The first typemay include creating a link to/from an analysis construct to/from thelabel or title or representative icon of an information construct as awhole. In this manner, the reference from the analysis construct isconstrued as reference to the entire information construct as a whole,via the reference to the label or title of the information construct.

In one embodiment of the present invention, references between ananalysis construct and an information construct may be depicted inrepresentations of the present invention by several visual mechanisms,such as by the display of a title, label or icon associated with theinformation construct. A second type of reference between an analysisconstruct and an information construct may include creating a link to ananalysis construct to/from an information element within an informationconstruct. In a preferred embodiment, the linkage manager maintains andprovides the data regarding the contents of the information element andthe title or label or other reference to the information construct withwhich the information element is associated, with both available forinclusion visibly in the analysis construct. It should be appreciatedthat these two links forms are representative of links betweeninformation constructs and analysis constructs, and that additionalforms of links may be provided in accordance with the present invention.

In one preferred embodiment, any information element so referenced,linked or included in or associated with the analysis construct is basedon the content associated with the information construct at the time theanalysis construct is viewed. In this manner, any updating or changes toinformation constructs and their respective elements are automaticallyalso reflected in their representation and reference with regard toanalysis constructs.

Method and Process: Creating a Meaning Statement Set

Referring back to FIG. 5, as generally indicated by block 570, theprocess manager in a preferred embodiment facilitates the user'sdevelopment and revision of a set of thinking structures which comprisethe thinking construct of the integrated construct, and which providemeaningful thinking and working subsets to the user. As describedearlier, in a preferred embodiment, these may include, for example, aset of meaning statements for inclusion with the integrated construct.The set of meaning statements may be void in an integrated construct,may be one or may include a plurality of meaning statements and/orsub-meaning statements. As discussed earlier, in one embodiment, meaningstatements are most likely to be text, but may also be created in theform of a drawing, image, diagram, or other suitable information form.Characteristics of meaning statements are generally discussed in anearlier section.

In the preferred embodiment, meaning statements may be linked to theanswer or summary set, in order to indicate the logical support of theanswer or summary set by some portion of the meaning statements. Inanother preferred embodiment, meaning statements that are linked via thelink manager to the answer or summary set may also include additionaldesignations, such as “supports,” “contradicts” or others.

As shown in FIG. 5, the work process step represented by block 570includes defining, populating or revising a meaning statement set thatcan occur in a plurality of points within the overall process. FIG.5E-10 depicts an example meaning statement set.

In one embodiment, the process manager encourages the user to create newmeaning statements at key points in the overall process, in a number ofdifferent portions of method and process. For example, the processmanager provides the user with a placeholder for the creation of meaningstatements that acts as a reminder and encourager to do so, in a numberof different portions of the overall archetype process, including butnot limited to: while working on an individual subtopic or topic andconstructing relevant knowledge constructs, while working on the set ofanalysis and/or information constructs, while working on a particularanalysis construct, and others. In one preferred embodiment, the presentinvention facilitates the user in the creation of meaning statements andmeaning statement relationships in several ways, including but notlimited to: (i) through the encouragement and prompting to developmeaning statements while the user is thinking and/or working in anyindividual component or particular subset view; (ii) throughencouragement and prompting to consider and develop meaning statementsand meaning statements relationships as a set across all or asubstantial subset of the rest of the integrated construct components,and through thinking prompts provided by the process suggestor. It is anadvantage of the present invention that the user is also provided aportion of method and process in which the collection of theobservations and meaning statements (associated with analysisconstructs, subtopics, and other meaning statements) are made availableto the user as a set, hiding the underlying data and analysis detailsfrom which the meaning statements were derived, while still making thedetails accessible to the user (through mechanisms described elsewhereherein). It is a further advantage of the present invention that theuser is provided with the ability to quickly and easily access thesupporting (or conflicting) knowledge constructs and the associatedsubtopics, if any, from such a combined meaning statement view.

As discussed elsewhere with respect to the process manager suggestionprocess, in one embodiment, the process manager may access the contentsand/or the labeled and structural relationships across meaningstatements, and provide suggestions to the user. In one embodiment, theprocess manager may evaluate the contents and relationships of meaningstatements and make suggestions regarding reclustering or regroupingmeaning statements, suggestions regarding additional analysis constructsthat may be considered, and/or identify meaning statements that are notwell supported by the knowledge constructs at the time.

Method and Process: Creating an Answer or Summary Set

Referring back to FIG. 5, as generally indicated by block 580, in oneembodiment, the present invention provides the user with the ability toenter or depict an overall answer or summary set for the integratedconstruct and its project. The overall answer or summary set may becreated in a plurality of information media forms, including but notlimited to text, drawings, diagrams, images, graphics, charts, etc.,preferably including at least some text explanation as well. In oneembodiment, the process manager may allow the user to include ananalysis construct as part of the overall answer or summary, preferablyalong with explanatory text.

In one embodiment, the process manager facilitates the user thinkingabout and capturing their initial, developing and eventually finalthoughts regarding what the answer or highest level summaryunderstanding, opinion, or recommendation is for the project. The methodand process step of creating an answer or summary set for the integratedconstruct may be accessed and accomplished by the user at generally anytime after the initiation of the project. In one preferred embodiment,the answer or summary for the integrated construct is linked to the maintopic, issue, question (or other designation by the user of a subjectarea of interest).

In another embodiment, the link between main topic and answer or summaryset is created automatically by the present invention when the userenters any information into the answer or summary set construct. Inanother preferred embodiment, the process manager facilitates andencourages the user to link the answer or summary to meaning statements.In a preferred embodiment, the meaning statements may also be designatedregarding the nature of their relationship to the answer or summary set,including relationships such as “supports,” “contradicts” and others.The answer or summary for the integrated construct may be edited andchanged throughout the development, editing, and viewing of the overallintegrated construct. From certain representations of the integratedconstruct (as described in the representation description below), theuser may select the visual area associated with the answer or summaryset for the integrated construct. Alternatively, the process manager maysuggest that the user access the answer or summary set for theintegrated construct at various points throughout the overall method andprocess. For example, if the user has created a high number ofinformation constructs and/or analysis constructs and/or observationalcomments associated with analysis constructs, but has not yet created ananswer or summary set, the process manager may suggest that the user trytaking a guess at the overall answer or summary set. If the user haspreviously entered or created a portion of content (such as text,drawing, image, and/or other information media forms) to be associatedwith the answer or summary set of the integrated construct, that portionof content is displayed, and is available to the user for editing,additions, or deleting, according to the user interaction mechanismsdefined previously in this document. The main topic as previouslyentered or created by the user may also be represented. If the user hasnot previously entered or created a portion of content to be associatedwith the answer or summary of the integrated construct, then the viewmanager may represent an empty answer or summary component to the userwhen this component of the integrated construct is represented.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the process manager providesthe user with the option to create more than one answer or summary forthe integrated construct, intended as potential alternative answers orsummaries. In this embodiment, with the current representation of theanswer or summary being represented to the user, the user can choose toadd an additional or alternative answer or summary to be associated withthe integrated construct. If an additional or alternative answer orsummary is so chosen by the user, a second or additional answer orsummary workspace may be provided to be associated subsequently with theintegrated construct. The process manager may also prompt the user tolabel, name, title or number the alternative answers or summary sets.Using the linkage manager, the user may then be provided with theability to develop a second set of links between the alternative answeror summary set and the other components of the integrated construct,such as topics, information constructs, analysis constructs, and/ormeaning statements. The linkage manager generally also allows the userto change links from the topic set, the meaning statement set and anylinked information constructs or analysis constructs to/from thealternative answers or summary sets being developed.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the user is provided withthe option to create and enter their opinion into evaluative fields withthe answer or summary for the integrated construct. These evaluativefields may include a number of annotations for the evaluation ofalternative answer or alternative summary sets, including for examplesuch annotation as “pros” and “cons” for each alternative answer orsummary, and/or a numeric or qualitative rating according to a pluralityof dimensions to indicate the user's degree of satisfaction with any onealternative answer at a point in time. In a preferred embodiment, suchevaluation is accomplished with access also to any goal statements orrequirements or similar descriptions that the user entered as part ofthe problem definition during the course of the project.

In one embodiment, the process manager may provide suggestions regardingthinking prompts to be considered in the development of an answer orsummary statement, based on various inferences, as indicated elsewhereherein. In another embodiment, the process manager may provide a subsetof interactive suggestions for thinking prompts.

Link Manager

Referring to FIG. 3A, block 605, a preferred embodiment of the toolprovides for a Linkage Manager or similar module, for creating,changing, maintaining, and representing multiple links that may bedeveloped among and between selected or generally all of the componentsof the integrated construct. Such links may be simple or complex. Suchlinks may be created or changed by a number of mechanisms, including butnot limited to: (i) a specific user request or action (either inresponse to a suggestion from the process manager or initiated by theuser alone), and (ii) created or suggested automatically by the presentinvention. The links generally represent relationships between differentcomponents of the integrated construct that are user or method andsystem created. The present invention also generally facilitates theselective or continual changing or updating of those links, and theaddition of new links. FIGS. 4A through 4E show an example of links thatmay evolve between and among components of an integrated construct asgenerally provided by the present invention. FIG. 7A is a representationof an example of a linkage view, showing an example of content specificlinks supported and enabled by the archetype process and structure, asdescribed above.

As shown in FIG. 3, the link or linkage manager or similar modulegenerally creates, monitors changes to, maintains and in some casessuggests or automatically creates links between and among the componentsor elements of the components of the integrated construct. In oneembodiment, the link manager generally also creates, tracks, and manageslinks between components of any integrated construct, and otherintegrated constructs or electronic content. For example, the linkmanager provides for the inclusion of a link to a publicly available website on the Internet, associated with a component of an integratedconstruct. In another embodiment, the present invention may also providefor links between multiple integrated constructs or components ofmultiple integrated constructs, components of multiple integratedconstructs, or elements of components of multiple integrated constructs,or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, such integratedconstructs and components and elements of integrated constructs mayreside locally and/or remotely, on the same processor, on differentprocessors, or on geographically dispersed processors.

Links may be created and edited between and among integrated constructcomponents in at least two ways including but not limited to: (i) linkswhich are specified through user actions generally according to theinteraction methods and approaches described above; and (ii) links whichmay be suggested to the user or provided automatically by the method andsystem of the present invention, and which may be available to the userto change or delete if desired, as described below. It should beappreciated that numerous alternative methods or technology approachescan be used to accomplish the creation, tracking, maintenance andrepresentation of links among and between components of the integratedconstruct in accordance with the present invention. In addition, asstated in other portions of this application, it is likely that theoptimal choice for technology and data storage approach, for example,will be dependent upon the complexity of the integrated constructitself, and the volume of the information to be included in thecomponents of the integrated construct.

In the integrated construct of the present invention, links between oramong components may be used to indicate an association or relationshipbetween those components. A plurality of suitable links may be providedin accordance with the present invention. Examples of the types of linksthat may be provided include but are not limited to: (i) hierarchicallinks; (ii) lateral links; and (iii) unspecified links. Each of these isdiscussed further below.

One link type which may be provided by the present invention includeshierarchical relationships, including but not limited to relationshipssuch as (a) higher level and more detailed, or a whole and parts(examples of which include topics, subtopics, and secondary subtopics,or meaning statements and secondary meaning statements); and (b)supportive of or contradicting with (examples of which include answer orsummary and meaning statements, or meaning statements and secondarymeaning statements).

Another link type which may be provided by the present inventionincludes lateral relationships, including but not limited torelationships such as: (a) associative relationships (examples of whichmay include topics and information constructs, topics and analysisconstructs, topics and meaning statements, information constructs andsources); (b) content relationships (examples of which includeinformation elements within an information construct and a particularanalysis construct, meaning statements to meaning statements,information constructs to information constructs, analysis constructs toanalysis constructs); and (c) logic relationships (examples of which mayinclude information constructs to information constructs, meaningstatements to meaning statements, topics to subtopics, subtopics tosubtopics, information constructs to analysis constructs).

A further link type that may be provided by the present invention mayinclude one or more unspecified linking relationships. Similarly, thepresent invention may include the ability to specify that a link islikely to exist between any two components or the contents of anycomponents without specifying the type of link at that time. In oneembodiment of the present invention, this type of link is labeled as“undetermined,” “unknown,” “is related to” or provided any othersuitable or user defined label. In view of the nature of the componentsof the integrated construct, it should be appreciated that any suitablefurther or additional linkage relationships which can be defined amongor between groups of components or individual components (i.e., group togroup, individual to individual, individual to group, and group toindividual) of the integrated construct can be employed in accordancewith the present invention.

In conjunction with specifying that a link exists between or amongdifferent components of an integrated construct, the present inventionmay provide the user with the ability to designate a label or type tothe link. In one embodiment, the specification of the type to beassociated with a link is provided as a field into which a user caninput a text, graphic, or drawing designation as a label for the link.This enables the user to explain why the user believes a relationshipexists and to define the nature of the relationship between two or morecomponents and thus the purpose of the link. This is one of thefunctions that also allows the present invention to track and documentthe user's thinking. The user can subsequently change or add to thelinks or the reasons associated with the links and therefore thislinking assists in enabling the present invention to track and documentthe user's thinking process. The present invention may in one embodimentsave subsequently changed links to track and allow the user and othersto see how the user's thinking process progressed, as it does with otherintegrated construct components. This may allow another person such as(i) a teacher to see the links created by the user and why the usercreated such links, or (ii) a person or team to share their reasoningand thinking in a project with another person or team. Such sharing canhelp the user in refining and developing the user's thinking processes.Such tracking may also provide the user with an ability to review theirown patterns of thinking and linking in the course of completing theirproject.

In another embodiment, the user can specify the nature of any link bythe designation of an arrow-like direction (either direction or atwo-way relationship). In yet another embodiment of the presentinvention, the specification of the type to be associated with a linkmay be accomplished by the present invention providing a menu of linktypes from which to choose. It should be appreciated that there are aplurality of approaches to accomplishing the user's ability to indicatea type or nature of the relationship to be associated with a linkbetween or among components of the integrated construct that could beused in accordance with the present invention.

The present invention provides for some linkages between and amongcomponents of the integrated construct that may be providedautomatically. For example, in one embodiment, the present invention mayprovide for the automatic creation of links between components basedupon the characteristics of the representation or view the user is usingat the time a new component is created. For example, if a user is usinga representation of a specific topic view at the time the user creates anew information construct, then the present invention may automaticallyspecify a link between the information construct and the specific topicthat was the focus of the view at the time of the informationconstruct's creation. Similarly, for example, if a user is using arepresentation of a specific analysis construct at the time that aninformation construct is created, the present invention mayautomatically link the information construct to the analysis constructand suggest to the user that they specify how the information constructis related to the analysis construct, or delete such a recommended link.Such automatic linking makes the process of creating and managingrelationships across project components—which can become verycomplex—significantly easier and more productive for the user.

In yet another example of automatic linkages that may be provided by thepresent invention, the present invention may provide secondaryassociations to the user, based on primary associations. For example, inone embodiment of the present invention, if a component of theintegrated construct “A” has a relationship with another component “B”and component “B” has a relationship with component “C,” then thepresent invention may provide the link “A has a relationship with C” asa suggestion or automatically. The archetype process may also show thissecondary relationship to the user and ask whether the user wants thissecondary relationship to be retained or not.

In the preferred embodiment, such automatically generated or suggestedlinkages do not detract from the ability of the user to then link thenewly created components to other components (or in other views). Byproviding these and other automatic linkages or linkage suggestions,however, the present invention reduces the users effort at creating andmanaging such linkages and increases the probability that meaningfullinkages will be created and maintained. The system may also allow theuser to override any such linkages suggested or created automatically bythe present invention.

View and Representation Manager

Referring now to FIG. 3, one embodiment of the view and representationmanager of block 200 is described and depicted in further detail inflowcharts in FIGS. 3C, 3D-10 and 3C-20. In a preferred embodiment, thepresent invention includes a view and representation manager which isoperable to provide to the user different representations which providethe portions of archetype process, and the associated portions ortotality of the integrated construct, its content, structure, linkagesas it develops. In the description that follows, a distinction isintended between “views” provided by the present invention (beingcombinations of portions of method and process and the content,structure, and linkages of the integrated construct so as to providemeaningful thinking and working sets) and “representations” provided(being the visual and interactive provisioning of the views to the useror users, in a plurality of visual and interactive forms). In thefollowing description, the software module(s) that accomplish thesecapabilities is termed “view and representation manager” but may bereferred to as “view manager” as shorthand in the description thatfollows. Views and representations may be changed in response to userinputs and actions, as described in greater detail below. In oneembodiment, different views or representations may also be suggested bythe process manager to the user, as a means of guiding the user'sthinking and work, based upon the evaluation of the user's current view,activities and content progress in the integrated construct, projectcompletion rules, and other items as described herein.

The views and representations provided by the present invention throughthe view and representation manager generally provide the user withseveral advantages, including but not limited to the following: (i) therepresentations accomplish guidance and feedback to the user byproviding a meaningful subset of their content associated with theirintegrated construct and also the portions of method and process thatthe user is likely to want to use or may want to consider using,according to exemplary project approaches, with those portions ofcontent; (ii) the views represent the user's ITKC and activities invarious ways against the expectations of the archetype process andstructure, to various degrees, as a means of providing coaching andfeedback; (iii) the views and representations enable a user to work onan integrated construct from a plurality of viewpoints with easynavigation between these viewpoints, in a way which allows the user tofollow their own instincts and thoughts regarding what type of thinkingor knowledge work they should pursue next (such as working on anintegrated construct from the perspective of “what questions was Itrying to answer?” and then switching to “what do I think the answermight be?”) without having to do additional work to reconstitute theproject's information; (iv) the present invention provides useful viewsand representation of focused thinking and/or knowledge activitytype—(for example, focusing on the definition of the problem through aset of topics, focusing on analysis, or others), and useful “slices” orother subsets of combinations of the components of the integratedconstruct (such as the “slice” view of a particular subtopic and itsassociated components and method and process) which generally correspondto a natural thinking or knowledge related work process, and in so doingprovide a way of guiding working on a potentially complex integratedconstruct and the archetype process, by subsetting the integratedconstruct and the appropriate portions of method and process intomeaningful thinking and working views; (v) in one preferred embodiment,the views and representations may provide visualization of what nextthinking and work steps are likely to be useful for the user to pursue,through a number of different approaches, such as by placing the visualdepiction of the “visible next views” associated with the related workactivity in proximity or otherwise visible or easily accessible from thecurrent working view for the user, and by depicting gaps to the user;(vi) the views and representations provide a context for work by theuser that in a preferred embodiment may allow the present invention todetermine links that should be made automatically between components ofthe integrated construct, as described more fully in the discussion ofthe linkage manager, and others.

A later section describes examples of the views and representation typeswhich may be provided by the present invention in one or severalembodiments. In the description provided herein, reference is primarilymade to replacing a current in-use view with a different view, primarilyin response to user actions and requests and evaluation and optimizationby the view manager and suggestions by the process manager or similarmodule. However, it should be readily appreciated that allowing a userto have multiple views or representations as provided by the inventionvisible and/or accessible at generally the same time is in accordancewith the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6A, a schematic of some categories of view typesprovided by a preferred embodiment, representations or views provided bythe present invention in one embodiment may for example provide views ofat least these general types, including both global representation andnavigation approaches, and local or focused representation andnavigation approaches.

For example, referring to FIG. 6A, in one embodiment, global views mayinclude but not be limited to: (i) views of the total integratedconstruct, conveyed against archetype expectations to varying degreesand levels of detail, as indicated by block 80; (ii) views which subsetthe total ITKC into visually distinctive regions and/or which may showthe level of activity or work conducted and/or components constructed inthose regions and/or slices. Examples of local navigation view typesprovided by one embodiment may include: (i) views of a region, being asimilar type of archetype thinking or knowledge work process portion andthe associated thinking or knowledge components as depicted in blocks70, 72, 74, 76, and 78 in FIG. 6A (such as a topic set); (ii) views of aslice or subset of the integrated construct and its associated methodand process, as indicated by block 82 in FIG. 6A, being a useful,generally filtered or subsetted combination of some of the components ofthe integrated construct and their associated portions of method andprocess of the present invention (for example, a meaning statement andits associated knowledge constructs), (iii) views of individual ITKCcomponents, such as an individual information construct, as indicated byblock 85 in FIG. 6A, (vi) views of sets of ITKC components, such as aset or sets of information constructs, analysis constructs, and others.Views and representations of one preferred embodiment are laterdescribed more specifically. t. It should be appreciated that differentaudiences may desire or respond better to somewhat different depictionsor forms of these views, such as due to age or specific applicationdifferences. For example, the specific rendition of the interface for aten-year-old user in an educational setting is likely to differ from therendition of the interface for an adult problem solver, although thebasic functionality may be very similar, and the general work steps andassociated views may be generally similar. Given the general purposenature of the integrated construct and its associated method and system,it is further expected that new or adjusted forms of representation ofthe integrated construct contents and their associated method andprocess may similarly be defined in accordance with the presentinvention.

As described elsewhere herein, the views and representations provided bythe present invention are not dependent upon operating system, hardware,data storage and management mechanisms, nor are they dependent upon thespecific programming techniques employed for their implementation orspecific transactions used to accomplish the representations and theirassociated functionality. The views provided by the present inventionlargely provide the function, value and advantage inherent in thepresent invention largely regardless of the technical approach taken fortheir implementation. It is most likely that the processing capabilitiesof the technology used for implementation may affect the precise formand approach used to represent the view to the user (for example, using3D images in environments with low computer processing power, as opposedto complex, fully functioning 3D rendering of the structure for therepresentation), as opposed to the nature of the view elements, content,and method and process to be used. The representations may also beprovided in a plurality of forms, including but not limited toelectronic display and printed paper or other outputs. Referring to FIG.3C, the view and representation manager monitors user events anddetermines whether the user event indicates a desired change in view, asindicated by block 205. In one embodiment of the present invention, theprimary user interaction device is a computer mouse, which may move acursor or other marker on a computer screen to indicate the location ofthe user's activity, and a keyboard. Alternatively, in this embodiment,the view and representation manager may also monitor the placement andlevel of activity associated with a computer cursor placed in a positionon or within the representation or view using directional or other keyson a computer keyboard. In addition, as described above, a plurality ofuser interaction devices may be used, including but not limited to touchscreens, voice activation, stylus pen, or other interaction mechanisms.Also, as described previously, the display device may be a plurality ofdisplay devices and mechanisms. In one embodiment, indicators to theview manager that a changed view is desired may include the selection bythe user of: a component visible in the current view, subset of acurrent view, visible next view, selection of different level of detail,a different view from the ITKC overview, a different view from a dropdown menu, and others as described elsewhere herein. If no change inview is indicated as shown in block 205 FIG. 3C, no further action istaken.

Referring again to FIG. 3C, the view and representation manager in oneembodiment determines in block 210 whether the user's selection of a newview is in response to a suggestion that has been provided by theprocess manager. If so, the view manager receives input regarding therecommended view parameters in block 215 from the process manager, whichset the parameters for the view manager in block 270 as the basis forlater filtering the contents, structure, linkages and method and processto be provided (block 272), composition of the appropriate view elements(block 275) and view optimization and rendering (block 290). Referringagain to FIG. 3C block 210, in one embodiment, if the view managerdetermines that the changed view is not in response to a suggestion bythe process manager, then the view manager evaluates the user positionand action in block 220 and determines the appropriate new viewparameters in block 265 which then set the parameters for the view inblock 270. The view manager or similar module therefore determines andsubsequently provides the appropriate view parameters to create theappropriate representation of the desired view, including the integratedconstruct content, structure, linkages, and appropriate associatedportion of the method and process to the display or display device. Inone preferred embodiment of the present invention, the process manageror similar module may evaluate the user movements and providesuggestions to the user for next views to try, based on an evaluation ofcurrent user actions together with items such as the status of thecontent and structure of the integrated construct and project completionrules, as described elsewhere herein.

Referring to FIGS. 3C-10, further detail of the logic of the view andrepresentation manager for one embodiment is shown, in order to evaluatethe user position and action (block 220) and determine new viewparameters, block 260. The view manager in block 222 determines thecurrent view parameters, based upon the set of specific view definitionsprovided by the present invention in block 224. In one embodiment,specific view definitions may include but not be limited to some or allof the following: (i) the component types included from the ITKC (suchas topics, information constructs, etc.), (ii) the basis or centralcomponent on which the ITKC components are to be filtered for inclusionin the specific view, (iii) portions of method and process to be madeavailable to the user in the specific view, (iv) subset or level ofdetail to be provided for included components in the specified view, (v)linkages that are to be made visible or available to the user in thespecific view, and (vi) other views which are to be made most closelyavailable or appear to be related to the user in the specified view, andothers, Referring again to FIGS. 3C-10, in one embodiment, the view andrepresentation manager monitors whether the user has selected a nextvisible view (block 225) or used another means to select a differentview, such as a drop down menu (block 226), or changed position within aview (block 227) which warrants a change in the filtering of components,linkages and portions of method and process (block 230) to be includedin the specific view chosen by the user. Continuing with FIGS. 3C-10, inone embodiment the view manager further evaluates whether the user hasindicated a desired change of detail (block 234), which sets the filterparameters in block 240 for level of detail. Continuing with FIGS.3C-10, the view manager evaluates whether the user has indicated achange in representation type (for example, 3 dimensional, 2dimensional, outline and matrix representational types) in block 244 orin representational type form (block 246) as the basis for determiningdisplay parameters to be used for the new view in block 250, from thedisplay options provided by the present invention in block 242.

Referring still to FIGS. 3C-10 block 242, in a preferred embodiment, thepresent invention may provide for the selection of representation typesby the user. Representation types as used herein refer to differenttypes of representation or means of visually depicting a view to a useror group of users, which provide for sets of views which are generallyfunctionally the same, but whose appearance is different in the mannerin which they are represented.

The present invention, through the view manager, may in one embodimentprovide the user with a number of different representation types asoptions for representing and displaying the integrated construct and theassociated method and process portions which are provided by the presentinvention. In one embodiment of the present invention, the user may beprovided with the following options for representation types: (i)three-dimensional representation(s); (ii) an outline or tree-typerepresentation; (iii) two-dimensional representation(s), and (iv) amatrix representation. In addition to personal preferences forrepresentation by different users, it is also likely that the optimalrepresentation type for the specific integrated construct may differ bythe nature, size, and complexity of the integrated construct itself.

Referring again to FIGS. 3C-10, the view and representation manager inone embodiment monitors selection by the user of representation form orshape in block 244. For each representation type provided by the presentinvention, there may be a plurality of specific forms or shapes providedfor choice by the user. In one preferred embodiment, for example, theview manager may provide for the selection of the representation formassociated with a three-dimensional representation, for example, theuser may be provided with a plurality of specific three dimensionalshapes from which to choose the manner in which their particularintegrated construct and the associated method and process will berepresented (examples of which are illustrated in FIGS. 6I-6V). Itshould be appreciated that a plurality of three-dimensional shapes and aplurality of degrees of visual detail in the depiction can be employedin accordance with the present invention. A more detailed explanation ofthe characteristics of shapes that may be optimal for use in athree-dimensional representation of the integrated construct is includedin the description of the specific views set forth in the representationsection below. Continuing with FIGS. 3C-10, the view and representationmanager or similar module may monitor the specific view andrepresentation being displayed at a particular point in time, asindicated in block 222. In one embodiment, the present inventiongenerally provides the user with the ability to change the specific viewand representation being displayed through a number of differentinteraction mechanisms, which may include but not be limited to thefollowing: (i) user movement of an interaction device to send an inputto the view manager or process manager indicating the selection of adifferent view which is visible for access in the representation of thecurrent view which may be placed as an adjacent view (referred tohereafter as visible next view); (ii) user selection of a component ofthe integrated construct which is visible in the current view in orderto obtain a more detailed view of the content, structure and/or linkagesassociated with the selected component (iii) user selection of a linkwhich is visible in the current representation view; (iv) user selectionof an area or subset of the overall integrated construct representation,which is associated with a specific view; (v) user selection of a viewprovided through a conventional menu list, and others.

With regard to choice (i), in one embodiment, the availability ofrelated views may be depicted as a part of the representation in currentuse, or indicated or implied by the placement orientation or theintegrated construct, or indicated as available at the boundaries of thescreen or other display device (in the case of more detailed views inwhich the outer boundaries of the integrated construct are not visible).These related views are termed “visible next views” for the purposes ofclarification herein. Referring to FIG. 6D, an example of a visible nextview available from a specific current view block 82 a is shown in FIG.6D block 82 b. More specifically, the view manager may present to theuser both “visible next views” those for which a portion of the view isactually available, as shown in FIG. 6F block 82 a, and also views whichwhile not immediately visible, are implied as available through theirimplied position, such as the implied related next views indicated byblock 82 c in FIG. 6F. Referring to FIG. 6E, examples of visible nextviews and implied next views are indicated for one embodiment of a 2dimensional version of the representation structure.

Returning to the discussion of the 3 dimensional representation,specifically, user selection of such a visible next view may beaccomplished as follows. In one embodiment, while a particularrepresentation is being displayed, the present invention may generallymonitor user actions and inputs. In this embodiment, if the userinteraction device is moved in a way to place the user interactionmarker within or upon an area of the representation view whichrepresents a different, visible next view (or up to a screen boundarythat implies a visible next view), the view manager generally replacesthe current view with the new view so indicated. In one embodiment ofthe present invention, the movement may also be accompanied by anadditional user interaction message, such as a click of the computermouse or other device, in order to verify that the user does indeed wishto move and replace the existing representation view with a differentview.

With regard to choice (ii) above, in one embodiment, within any specificrepresentation, the present invention may generally monitor whether auser selects a specific component that is at that time available in theview. Specifically, in one embodiment, the component of the integratedconstruct may be being displayed as part of a view as an icon, name,title, summary field, or other suitable high level representation. Inone embodiment, the user may select the specific integrated constructcomponent through the use of a computer mouse and a standard doubleclick interaction (for example, the user might select the icon for theperson information construct “James Madison” while working in theindividual subtopic view with which James Madison is associated, such asthe subtopic “Who created the Constitution?”. It should be appreciatedthat many approaches can be used to provide a message from the user tothe view manager and process manager that the user has selected acomponent within a view in accordance with the present invention. In oneembodiment, the view manager responds to the user event of selection ofa component of the integrated construct to indicate a request for a moredetailed view of that component as referenced above in (ii), and thepresent invention may display one, a plurality of or all of thecontents, structure, and linkages associated with the selectedcomponent. In one embodiment of the present invention, this moredetailed representation is provided in a pop-up like additionalrepresentation space or window on the computer screen, in theapproximate position as the high level component that was selected. Inone embodiment of the present invention, the detailed representationspace for the selected component can also be moved and repositioned onthe display area while it is open at any time. In one embodiment, morethan one integrated construct component may be so visible and availableto the user at the same time. Upon selection and displaying a moredetailed representation of any integrated construct component, thecontents and format of the selected component may be added to, changed,deleted, or reformatted as desired by the user, as described further inthe method and process description of the present invention includedherein.

With regard to choice (iii) above, in one embodiment, the user may alsoindicate the selection of a link represented as associated to acomponent of the integrated construct. In this embodiment, the presentinvention may display the component associated with the chosen link,which may not be visible in the current view, and provide the user withthe ability to navigate by selecting the link to a view of thereferenced or linked component, thus changing the component that iscentral to the view.

With regard to choice (iv) above, in one embodiment, the user mayindicate the selection of an area or region of a representation, such asthe topic set region as a whole from the viewpoint of working on onetopic or question. In this embodiment, when the user selects such aregion or other visually distinguishable area, the present invention mayreplace the current view with the view so selected.

With regard to choice (v) above, in one embodiment of the presentinvention, the options available for representation types and specificviews are also made available to the user in one or a number of moreconventional manners, such as through the use of a drop down menu,through the assignment of specific key combinations on the keyboard (acommon convention which is typically targeted at allowing more expertusers to interact with a software program more quickly and directly thanpull down menus with multiple levels of options typically provide) andothers.

The present invention uses a number of approaches to provide visual andprocess feedback to the user as they take actions. Again referring toFIG. 3A, in a preferred embodiment, when the user chooses to add ormodify a component to their integrated construct (such as a newinformation construct) as shown in blocks 420 and 400, the processmanager and update manager may add the components to the integratedconstruct through the update manager block 700, and the view manager maygenerally add the appropriate rendition of that new component to therepresentation view directly following the user action that initiatedthe action, by initiating a changed view, block 205.

Continuing with FIGS. 3C-20, in one embodiment, logic modules tooptimize and render the appropriate representation are shown. In FIG.3C-20, block 283, the view and representation manager evaluates theintended view elements, including the number of various component typesand/or the completeness of the components, that have been determined tobe included in the intended new view. In one embodiment, eachrepresentation type has a set of “default” view designs or approachesthat are preferred in most cases. Continuing with FIGS. 3C-20, the viewmanager in one embodiment may, as shown in block 284, evaluate theappropriateness of the representation type chosen by the user for thecomplexity, structure, number of components and other factors asevaluated by the present invention in block 283. For example, a highnumber and complex set of topics and subtopics may be better shown in anoutline form for working than in a web like depiction as part of the 3dimensional representation, described in greater detail below. If theview and representation manager identifies a more optimal representationtype, then the suggestion is provided to the view manager, in block 290,and may result in a different user event. Continuing with FIGS. 3C-20,if the user does not wish to change their representation type, or if therepresentation type has not been identified by the present invention assuboptimal, then the view and representation manager in block 286composes and optimizes the representation according to the requirementsof the different representation types, such as 3 dimensional, outline, 2dimensional matrix and more conventional approaches (described morefully elsewhere herein). Based on the representational type and thespecific representation composition, in block 287, in one embodiment,the view manager determines both context graphics and content andfunctional elements for the new view and representation. For example, inone three dimensional embodiment which may be suitable for lowerprocessing environments, the view manager may utilize images, such asJPEG or GIF files, which depict a three dimensional like structure invarious views, as a graphic backdrop against which other actionableelements are added, in order to achieve the appearance and functionalityof a three dimensional representation approach without the processingoverhead associated with a full 3 dimensional rendering, which is analternative 3 dimensional representational approach.

Continuing with FIGS. 3C-20, in one embodiment, as shown in block 288,the view manager then determines the optimal placement and size ofelements and functions to be displayed in the representation. Forexample, in one embodiment of the 3 dimensional representation, a visualarea is defined for the addition of information constructs to a specificsubtopic view. In one embodiment, if less than 12 information constructsare associated with the specified subtopic, then the informationconstructs are shown as icons with labels, spread out evenly in thespace. In another embodiment, the placement of the informationconstructs associated with the specific subtopic may be arrangedaccording to their completeness and complexity of content elements anddata, or according to a rating of importance as indicated by the user.In this same embodiment, if more than 12 information constructs, forexample, are associated with a specific subtopic view, then the presentinvention in block 288 may instead display the information constructs asa scrollable list and potentially as a ranked list, with labels andreduced or non existence icons.

The present invention in one embodiment may use several different visualtechniques to provide visual feedback to the user and thereby encourageappropriate thinking and knowledge behavior. For example, in oneembodiment, if the new component is created and no additionalinformation has been added to the component, the view manager mayrepresent that new component in the appropriate view as present butempty (for example, through the depiction of an empty outline for anicon for an empty person information construct, with a title only), orotherwise lighter or less evident visually than a component withsignificant content. In a similar embodiment, if information issubsequently associated with the new component by the user, then theview manager may display the new component with a visual indication ofno longer being empty. In one embodiment of the present invention, thedistinction between empty (created but not yet used) components andthose with which additional information has been associated isaccomplished through the use of graphic elements which are empty ortransparent and those which are later no longer transparent, or depictedin a darker and more opaque hue. It should be appreciated that aplurality of graphic and visual distinctions may be used to depict therelative completeness of a component or its links that have been addedto the integrated construct in accordance with the present invention.Continuing with FIGS. 3C-20, in block 283, in one embodiment, the viewmanager may count the number of subtopics, secondary subtopics, meaningstatements, secondary meaning statements, information constructs andanalysis constructs associated with the integrated construct, andcalculate the number of sides, facets, or areas and size and anglesrequired to render and include an appropriately sided polygon in therepresentation. In FIGS. 3C-20, block 287, on one embodiment, the viewmanager may then utilize these counts to provide representations inwhich visual depictions of the integrated construct correspond to thespecific numbers of components in the specific integrated constructbeing represented. In this manner and in these embodiments, the geometryof the representation of any integrated construct in this embodimentwill generally embody the number and levels of components that have beenconstructed by the user to date.

More specifically, in one embodiment of the three dimensionalrepresentation of the present invention, the number of visually evidentsides, facets, surfaces, or areas provided visually for each region(such as the topic set region) defined by the view manager maycorrespond to the number of subtopics or secondary subtopics which theuser has defined at that point in time. In another embodiment, thenumber of sides or visual areas shown for one type of the components mayvary according to the number of higher level components (such asaccording to the number of topics as opposed to subtopics), and depictthe subportions of the component as areas divided into or onto, forexample, the side views, facets, surfaces or areas. In one embodiment,the view and representation manager may similarly provide visualdifferentiation regarding the use of different thinking and work processportions, and the underlying structure and specifically the number ofcomponents of an integrated construct if represented in the outline,two-dimensional or matrix form.

Returning to FIGS. 3C-20, in one embodiment, following determination ofthe appropriate contextual graphics and capabilities in block 287, andthe placement of elements and functions appropriately for the desiredview in block 288, the view and representation manager renders therepresentation view accordingly.

Further details regarding specific views and additional details onrepresentation approaches provided by the present invention aredescribed below. It should also be appreciated that many representationforms can be used to create the functional advantages provided by thispresent invention, and therefore additional representation forms do notdepart from the scope or intention of the present invention as describedherein.

Views and Representations

The present invention provides a set of related views and a plurality ofrepresentation approaches which display portions or the totality of orthe integrated construct (including content, structure and linkages)throughout its lifecycle and enable the associated method and process ofthe present invention to be accessed, viewed and worked upon by the userin appropriate combinations in association with the portions or thetotality of the integrated construct. The present invention's definitionof elements and functions that together comprise the capabilities of theviews and representations, the visual combinations provided, thefeedback provided by these combinations to the user, and theirnavigational relationships to one another, are one manner in which thepresent invention facilitates and guides the user according to exemplarythinking and knowledge approaches for an inquiry based project.

Additional specification of the manner in which views andrepresentations are provided in accordance with the present invention isincluded elsewhere in this document above, such as in the descriptionsof the view and representation manager and of user interaction. In oneembodiment of the invention, the view manager provides for the user tohave more than one view of displayed at the same time.

The contents of the integrated construct may be varied, containing aplurality of components and of linkages between components, as shown inFIG. 4E. It should be appreciated that such linkages can become complexand numerous. The representations provided by the present inventionprovide meaningful overall and subset views of the plurality ofcomponents and relationships between components together with portionsof method and process to be used by the user in the specific view whichmay exist at any point in the completion of a project and creation anddevelopment of an integrated thinking and knowledge construct.

As illustrated generally in FIG. 1D??, in one embodiment, thecombination of views and representations provided by the presentinvention may enable a user to choose to work on the same integratedconstruct from a number of different angles or vantage points, generallywithout having to do additional work to edit, reconstitute, orreorganize the underlying information in order to do so.

In one embodiment, the views and representations provided by the viewmanager may be changed and depicted in order to provide visualrepresentation according to changes in the integrated constructcomponents, content, and linkages, as well as the user's or users'activity and actions in different thinking and knowledge processportions, thereby providing the user with an ongoing depiction of andguidance for the progress in developing the integrated construct for aproject.

The views provided by the present invention generally provide a basisfor stability and familiarity across projects and integrated constructs,as different integrated constructs will in one embodiment have similarview capabilities, which may include such common items as: method andprocess capabilities by general thinking and knowledge type of activity,common generally available method and process and tools, common generaltypes of ITKC components that may be included in or associated with anintegrated construct, and others. In addition, in one embodiment, thegeneral characteristics of the views, regions and subset sections orslices provided by the present invention may be generally the sameacross integrated constructs, providing a familiar context for thinkingand knowledge activities, even though the content provided in thoseviews differ according to the content and structure of differentintegrated constructs and of an integrated construct at the point inwhich it is being represented.

Although general options for method and process, components and viewsavailable are in many embodiments of the present invention generallycommon across different occurrences of integrated constructs,representations of specific projects and integrated constructs arelikely to differ in several key respects, as described in greater detailin other sections herein. For example, the views provided by the presentinvention of different projects and integrated constructs are likely todiffer from one another in the number and complexity of the topic setbeing addressed, in the selection of the components for inclusion withthe particular integrated construct or associated with any portion orspecific component of the ITKC, in the number and completeness ofcomponents included in the integrated construct (such as informationconstructs and analysis constructs), in the number of thinking and workspaces created for various components, in the specific linkages, andothers. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention may employ anumber of different visual and design approaches in views andrepresentations in order to depict and feedback to the user theirprogress so far against the exemplary and/or potential thinking andknowledge activities that may be or are intended to be done, asdescribed elsewhere herein.

For example, in one preferred embodiment, the view and representationmanager may create a representation of the ITKC and its associatedthinking and working areas as a visual skeleton in the earliest steps ofthe user's development of their integrated construct. As the user thenadds components and content to the integrated construct (as describedabove), the view and representation manager changes the representationaccordingly. In one embodiment, for example, early portrayals of theintegrated construct include representations of empty integratedconstruct regions or areas where no user activity has yet occurred, orwhere activity has occurred but no components of that region's or area'stype have been created, or where the user has created “empty”components, and others. In this manner, the representations provided bythe present invention are a visualization of the user's integratedconstruct as it develops as well as its potential for being the basisfor the user to identify additional development that has not yetoccurred. For example, in one embodiment, a topic or question which hasbeen created but which has associated with it as yet no information oranalysis constructs may be shown with empty working areas for theassociation of information constructs and analysis constructs and otherrelated components. At a high level, such a subtopic in one embodimentwould be depicted as existing but empty. In another example, the topicor question area which then had a small amount of information associatedwith its associated Information constructs or analysis constructs mightbe shown as translucent or pale in color, while the same topic orquestion with a significant amount of information associated with it maybe shown as more opaque and brighter. The intent is to visuallydistinguish progress in the components and regions or areas of theintegrated construct. It should be appreciated that such distinctionscan be accomplished through a variety of mechanisms and not depart fromthe scope and intent of the present invention.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as indicated in FIG. 3C-10block 244, the view manager may provide user with the ability torepresent the integrated construct and its associated method and processin a plurality of forms, based on the display options provided in block242, such as the following: (i) three-dimensional representation(s);(ii) outline or tree form for representation(s); (iii) two dimensionalrepresentation(s), and (iv) matrix representation(s). In otherembodiments, the present invention may provide one, some, or all ofthese different representational forms as choices for the user or users.In one embodiment, the user can choose to work on and view theintegrated construct through any of these representations, and the viewelements and associated method and process available to the user behavein generally the same way across the different representation types.Changes in representation type may be triggered to the view manager bythe user through a plurality of selection mechanisms, including but notlimited to use of a conventional drop down menu and others.

Referring again to FIGS. 3C-10, as shown in block 246, the presentinvention in one embodiment may also provide the user the ability tochoose specific representation forms or shapes for a specificrepresentation type. For example, in one 3-D embodiment of therepresentation provided by the present invention, the view manager alsoprovides a choice of the specific shape in which their integratedconstruct will be represented, examples of which are shown for thethree-dimensional representation in FIGS. 6I-6V.

In one embodiment, categories of views provided by the present inventioninclude but are not limited to the following types, depictedschematically in FIG. 6A, each of which may provide feedback to the useron their progress relative to the scope of the view, guidance on relatedthinking and knowledge activities, and navigation access to the user:(i) overall or global views of the integrated construct, allowing theentirety of the integrated construct and/or the entirety of the methodand process of the present invention to be represented (block 80; (ii)views which correspond to regions, thereby showing the set of likeintegrated construct components and method and process, associated witha common type of thinking or knowledge work (as in problem definitionand topic sets, analysis and analysis constructs, etc) (blocks 70, 72,74, 76, 78); (iii) slice or subset views, which provide a view of acollection of related components of an integrated construct and theirassociated method and process, and enable the user to work in meaningfulsubsets across the integrated construct (examples which include theindividual topic view, the individual meaning statement view, andothers) (block 82); and (iv) individual component views (block 85), andothers. Specific examples of these view types for one embodiment of thepresent invention are described in the following section.

Referring to FIG. 3C in block 272, in one embodiment, the view andrepresentation manager filters the total ITKC and its associated methodand process based on parameters set for a new view, as indicated inblock 270. The view manager may therefore create a plurality of viewsand subsets from such filtering. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, some of the views provided by the present invention maygenerally divide the integrated construct into distinctive regions,representative of different kinds of thinking and knowledge work, asshown schematically in FIG. 6A. As shown in FIG. 6, in one embodiment,these regions as represented to users of the present invention generallycombine or relate different aspects of the present invention, such asthese three different items: (i) the portion of the integrated constructcontent and its structure which is associated with a particular region,as representing a particular kind of thinking or knowledge activity(e.g., the region associated with the topics the user has defined); (ii)the portions of method and process of the present invention, which maybe embedded in tools and guidance to assist the user in working on thatportion of the integrated construct, and otherwise provided in the stepsor portions of the method and process which that region is intended toenable; and (iii) the linkages between and among relevant components ofthe integrated construct content.

The present invention may use a number of different approaches todistinguish the different regions or types of thinking and knowledgework within the total representation to the user. For example, in oneembodiment of the present invention, such as in one of thethree-dimensional representations of the integrated construct, regions(types of thinking and knowledge work and their associated content) aredistinguished by the visual distinction of different bounded areaswithin the integrated construct representation. Examples of generalregions being distinguished in a 3-D representation of the presentinvention are shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C. The regions may be furtherdistinguished by color and background depiction or other graphicaldistinctions.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the outline or treerepresentation form of the integrated construct, the regions may bedistinguished by the use of common color and graphic characteristicsacross the components within the region and through the proximity oflike components to one another

Referring again to FIG. 3C, filtering of the ITKC contents and structurein block 272 based on parameters for the new view, may also provide aview of subset or “slice” of related components of the integratedconstruct and associated methods and process required or desired to workon that slice. FIG. 6D shows schematically the general relationshipsbetween slice views and regions provided by the present invention.Specifically, referring to FIG. 3C, in one embodiment, the view manageruses the parameters for the new view (block 270) to filter the overallITKC contents, structure, and linkages and available method and processportions, as indicated in block 272. For subset or slice views, in oneembodiment, the view manager may utilize a specific subtopic as thebasis for filtering (for example, the subtopic “Who created theConstitution?”). In this embodiment, the view manager may then filterthe ITKC components, linkages, and structure to select only those thatare associated or have been linked to the subtopic “Who created theConstitution?” (for example, the information constructs James Madisonand George Washington, the analysis construct regarding a comparison ofthe beliefs of the framers, and any associated meaning statements). Theview manager may create such combination subset or slice views for allother components related to the component which is the basis of thefiltering (the subtopic above), and may create subset or slice views forpartial subsets (such as a partial subset or slice view which includesthe subtopic, information constructs, and analysis constructs but whichdoes not make the associated meaning statements visible in theparticular view).

FIG. 7B show one embodiment of the use of regions and subset or sliceviews in a 2 dimensional embodiment. Referring to FIG. 7B, for example,in one embodiment, regions may be implemented as areas accessible bysome structured or otherwise visible map, such as the tab like lookshown in FIG. 7B, with regions indicated by blocks 70, 71, 72, 73, 74,76, and 78, and a mechanism for accessing subsets or slice views shownthrough the use of a navigatable menu or other visible or accessibledevice, as shown in block 82. FIG. 7C shows a 2 dimensional approachwith one embodiment of an individual subtopic view. Similarly, a 2dimensional visual map of progress, associating components to regionsand other indicators for preferred structure and/or process may not beas compelling as 3 dimensional visual feedback, but again couldimplement the same or nearly same functionality. It should beappreciated that although the 2 dimensional embodiment may not have thesame advantages as the preferred 3 dimensional embodiment, it may wellprove the preferred embodiment for some classes of users and/orprojects.

The present invention therefore provides guidance generally enables theuser to move freely between the representational views while utilizingthe corresponding portions of the method and process of the presentinvention. FIG. 7 depicts one embodiment of links and navigational pathsbetween views or representations provided by the invention. In addition,the present invention generally provides abilities to short cutnavigational paths through physical manipulation of the representation,and instead navigate directly and quickly to the desired component orview. This short cut navigation may be accomplished through a pluralityof mechanisms such as the use of conventional pull down menus orassigned keys or others in accordance with the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, in one embodiment, specific views provided bythe present invention may include but are not limited to the following:(i) topic set overview 702 and if needed topic set drilldown view; (ii)individual topic view and detail views 706; (iii) individual informationconstruct view 710; (iv) individual analysis construct view 720; (vi)information construct set view 715; (vi) analysis construct set view725; (vii) linkage view 780; (viii) topic—meaning statement overlay view770; (ix) meaning statement overview 750; (x) answer or summary view;(xi) integrated construct overall overview 700, and others

In one embodiment of the present invention, the precise layout andappearance of views or representations can differ and still accomplishthe desired workspace creation and relationships to other workspaces toembody the method and process of the present invention effectively forthe user.

Preferably in all view types, the view manager provides the ability forthe user to be shown high level and more detailed depictions of theintegrated construct content, structure, linkages, and associatedportions of method and process. This may be accomplished through aplurality of user interaction mechanisms, including but not limited tosuch mechanisms as clicking “down” into a specific component, in orderto see the details within that components, as well as the ability tozoom in and zoom out on components of the integrated construct and theintegrated construct as a whole. When a three-dimensional representationis being used, the integrated construct representation may also bemanipulated such as rotated, turned, flipped, and otherwise maneuveredin a manner that has been seen to be used in the manipulation ofthree-dimensional renderings of physical objects. This facilitatesfurther visualization of the user's work on the project and also enablesthe user to look at the user's work on the project from different anglesthat may facilitate different thought processes of the user.

In one embodiment, representations or views provided by the presentinvention may employ a combination of visual characteristics including aplurality of elements to provide visual distinction of the specificcharacteristics of an integrated construct and the associated thinkingand knowledge processes, including but not limited to elements such asshape, structures, and color. Distinctions provided about the integratedconstruct may include but not be limited to the following: (i)distinction of types of thinking and/or knowledge work activities andtheir associated content portions; (ii) distinction between regions andsub-regions or portions of method and process that have been used in theintegrated construct versus those that have not yet been used, at thepoint in which the integrated construct is being represented; (iii)distinction of integrated construct components which have been createdor initiated in the particular integrated construct; (iv) distinction ofintegrated construct components which are available for use but have notyet been included or initiated in the particular integrated construct;(v) distinction between regions and integrated construct componentswhich have information associated with them versus those which do notyet have any content or information associated with them (i.e., thosewhich are empty); (vi) distinction of integrated construct componentswhich have greater or lesser amounts of content associated with them atthe point in which the integrated construct is being represented; (vii)distinction between components of the integrated construct which arelinked to other components versus those which are associated with theintegrated construct but are not linked to other components in theintegrated construct; and (viii) distinction of components of anintegrated construct which may be linked to components or the totalityof other integrated constructs; and (ix) distinction of key aspects ofcomponents as being in existence or not, or being lightly completedversus comprehensive.

It should be appreciated that many specific forms or shapes of two andthree-dimensional structures may be used to implement views of theintegrated construct, and they are within the scope of the presentinvention. Examples of shapes which may be used for 3 dimensionalrepresentations in one embodiment are provided in FIGS. 6I through 6V.In one embodiment, shapes that can accommodate the followingcharacteristics are generally likely to be among those with an optimalshape for representation of a 3-D shape for the conveyance of theintegrated construct. For example, in one embodiment, shapes whichgenerally have the following properties may be used most readily toimplement a representation of the integrated construct in the mannerdescribed herein: (i) a manner of distinguishing levels or spaces whichallow for the distinction of different types of thinking and/orknowledge activities; (ii) a way of subdividing or otherwise showing theexistence of different entities within or associated with these levelsor spaces in order to reflect the types and/or numbers of the variousintegrated construct components the user is creating or viewing; (iii)proximity or the ability to achieve proximity or visible linkage betweencomponents which are closely related or need to be visually related inorder to accomplish work steps (and to facilitate a way to show and workwith the plurality of components and links between components of theintegrated construct, and to move between different combination viewsthat are important to work steps in a meaningful way); (iv) proximity orthe ability to otherwise achieve relationships between related views;and (v) a way of providing views and access into the individualcomponents that comprise the content and content relationships of thethinking and knowledge activities.

In one preferred embodiment, referring to FIGS. 3C-20 block 286, theview manager utilizes a visual depiction of a three dimensional,physical-like structure as a key representational mechanism, which mayshow both navigational and therefore thinking and working relationshipsbetween the views, providing navigational access, as well as providingfeedback to the user regarding progress, as defined elsewhere herein. Ina preferred embodiment, t the 3 dimensional visual structure assists inconveying the potential and already used thinking and knowledge portionsof the method and process, as well as the components that have beenbuilt and their relationships. In one preferred embodiment, thethree-dimensional representation generally uses areas, levels and facetsof a three-dimensional representation structure to display theintegrated construct and its associated method and process portions. Forexample, in one embodiment, the view manager may use the differentlevels of a physical-like structure to differentiate, show progress in,and provide navigation to thinking and knowledge activities andresulting components of a similar type (for example, problem definitionthrough topics, analysis constructs, meaning statements, etc.).Similarly, in one embodiment, the view manager may use the sides,facets, or subareas of a physical like 3 dimensional representation todepict and convey the existence of different subset or slice views. Inone preferred embodiment, the view manager may use the levels and sidesof a 3 dimensional structure to define more specifically the basis forfiltering a subset or slice view.

In one embodiment, the invention may utilize at least two differentapproaches to the 3 dimensional representation of the integratedconstruct: 1) a 3D representation that is essentially views mapped ontoor associated with the facets, surface areas, or spaces of a 3dimensional looking shape (as shown in FIG. 6F, and 2.) a 3Drepresentation that employs a three dimensional linked structure made upof the ITKC components and its linkages, either alone or in combinationwith the use of the facets, surface areas, or spaces of a 3 dimensionallooking shape. This latter embodiment may take on the look of a threedimensional molecule, with the various linked components of the ITKCarranged with visible links, and an emphasis on navigation through nodesand links as opposed to facets. Both of these as well as combination oradditional three dimensional approaches to representing the ITKC are tobe understood to be within the scope of this application. The use of 3dimensional representations may assist the user in working on a projectin an intuitive manner, and makes the totality of their project and thestatus of the user's use of method and process portions, as well as therelationships between components easily evident. It should be readilyappreciated by those skilled in the art that additional forms of 3dimensional representation of an integrated construct are includedwithin the scope of this invention.

User navigation of 2 dimensional, outline or tree, and matrixrepresentations provided by the present invention may be accomplished ina variety of mechanisms that are well understood by those skilled in theart, including but not limited to user selection of visible elements toinitiate action or see further detail, use of drop down menus, drag anddrop approaches, and others. In one embodiment, user navigation and useof the 3D representational views can occur in several ways. Two of theseways are described more fully herein. In one embodiment, the user mayuse an interaction device to select an area, facet, surface, orcomponent that is visible to the user in the 3D representations.

In one embodiment, the 3D representations may include both the currentvisible central work view, and “next views” which are made visible oraccessible in an adjacent or otherwise visible area on therepresentation. The proximity of “next views” to the current visiblecentral work view is one way in which the present invention providesguidance to the user in thinking, as the “next views” represent naturalnext work steps the user may wish to chose next. Referring to FIG. 6F,one mechanism provided by the present invention to enable guided butflexible movement between the different thinking and work steps in aninquiry based project is the provisioning of current visible views (suchas the slice view depicted by block 82 a on FIG. 6D) and views which arealso visible and therefore appear closely related (as depicted by block82 b on FIG. 6F), which may be referred to as “next visible views,” Andviews which are implied to be available because of the edges or otherlogically available surfaces, areas, or structures that comprise the 3Dstructure that is being used, as in those noted as “implied relatedviews” depicted by block 82 c in FIG. 6F. The design and structure ofthe views, and their visible adjacency or placement in relation to oneanother, is one way in which the present invention provides guidance tothe user in portions of method to consider next, while allowingsignificant freedom in addressing the problem. In this embodiment, theview manager may provide additional direct navigation to less relatedviews through the use of mechanisms such as drop down menus and others.Other views (and corresponding work areas) may also be available to theuser, and provided in a drop down menu or other fashion. This is inkeeping with the design of the present invention that it provides someguidance to the user but also allows the user to move fairly freelythroughout the method and process. The user therefore can choose to movefrom the current visible central work area to a “next view” being shownto them in the representation, by selecting the next view area (or othervisible indicator for a next view) with an interactive device. Upon theuser selecting such a “next view” (as shown in FIG. 3A, block 110), theuser action is evaluated (FIG. 3A, block 302), and if a change in viewis warranted, the View Manager (FIG. 3A block 200) changes the viewbeing displayed to the chosen next visible view, including the currentcontent and structure of the integrated construct (FIG. 3A). The ViewManager (FIG. 3A, block 200) provides the appropriate representation tothe user, in keeping with the specifics of the 3D format that is beingused or has been chosen, in keeping with the above.

The definition of Next Visible Views as used herein includes views thatare logically apparent to the user but which may not be fully visible orindeed visible from the current view. Referring to FIG. 6E, for example,the areas noted as 82 b-1 and 82 b-2 are indeed areas that representaccess to views for additional subtopics, and are Next Visible Views.Continuing with FIG. 6E, areas notes as 82 b-4 are also Next VisibleViews, although only the edge of the facet belonging to that view andthe label for the subtopic may be visible from the current view. Also inFIG. 6E, area 82 b-5 is also a View which is available to the user, bymoving an interactive device to the edge of the construct that is theboundary of the “bottom” facet or view, by using the interactive deviceto select just below the visible Current View, or by other interactivemechanisms including but not limited to a pull down menu.

Accordingly, user manipulation of the 3 dimensional representation isprovided by the present invention is provided in a number of ways: 1.)the user may rotate, flip, zoom in and out or otherwise manipulate the 3dimensional representation of the integrated construct through the useof a number of different mechanisms and thereby “move” to a different,selected view; 2.) the user may select an area, facet, or othercomponent of the 3 dimensional representation by using an interactivedevice (such as a mouse and double clicking on the portion of therepresentation that indicates the presence of the next view), therebycausing the representation to be replaced by the selected next view;and/or 3.) the user may use a navigator icon or similar interface deviceto indicate directional movement. One embodiment of the use of anavigator icon or similar interface device is described further below.

In one embodiment, user navigation from one “view” to another of theintegrated construct—as associated with the different regions, facets,or other areas of a 3 dimensional looking structure—may be accomplishedthrough the use of a directional navigator device (see FIG. 7E for oneexample of such an interface device). In this embodiment, a visualdevice with sections or other elements that indicate direction may beprovided to the user on views. In this embodiment, if the user selectsthe component indicating the direction of “left” for example, the ViewManager changes the current view to provide the representation that isassociated with the next left most facet or area of the integratedconstruct. Specifically, for example, if the user is viewing a Question“side” View of the Construct, and selects or otherwise activates the“left” directional indicator in the navigator device, then the ViewManager changes the view to correspond with the next left most view—inthis case, the Question “side” View to the left of the previous view.Similarly, in one embodiment, if while viewing a Question “side” View ofthe Construct, the user selects or otherwise indicates the “up”directional indicator in the navigator device, the View Manager changesthe view to correspond with the view which is “above” or “up” from thecurrent view—in this example, the Topic Set or Topic Subset View. Theuse of significantly greater numbers or different forms of directionalindicators for use in navigating a 3D or 2D representational view of anIntegrated Construct are readily within the scope of this invention.

In one embodiment of such a navigator device, the central region shows adepiction of the overall shape of the integrated construct, selection ofwhich central region of the navigator device results in the View Managerpresenting the user with the Integrated Construct Overall View, asdescribed in greater detail later in this document. It should be readilyapparent that the use of other interaction approaches devices (such asthe physical directional movement of a mouse, use of a gaminginteractive device, use of a pen, touch screen or other interactionmechanism) to accomplish navigation and use of a 3 dimensionalrepresentation of an integrated construct does not depart from the scopeof this invention.

In another embodiment of a navigator device, the view manager mayprovide the user with a miniaturized representation of the IntegratedConstruct as a navigational device. In this embodiment, while on anygiven representational view, the user may then use this miniaturizedview or map of the overall Integrated Construct to select a specificview, portion or component of the Integrated Construct with some form ofinteractive device. Upon such selection, again, the View Manager thenchanges the representation of the Integrated Construct to the newlyselected view or component. It should be readily appreciated that theuse of any such visual or textual map of an overall inquiry basedprocess and integrated construct as a navigational device would bereadily within the scope of this invention.

The value and advantage of the views and representations of theintegrated construct are not dependent upon the precise coloration,shape, or screen placement of the components being provided in eachslice, region, component-specific, component set or overall integratedconstruct representation. It should be appreciated that the samefunctionality and same or similar advantage can be provided by somewhatdifferent implementations of these representations. For example,changing the icons, coloration, sizing, or screen placement of thecomponents, or in some cases even the selection of the specificcomponents being provided on the view would not materially change thefunction provided by the invention. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the user is provided with the ability to define the preferredplacement of items to appear in the various views.

The integrated construct may also be implemented in a physical manner,as in a physical model to be used in a classroom or other learningsituation to discuss and define the thinking and knowledge components ofan archetype project and process. An additional physical embodiment ofthe integrated thinking and knowledge construct is in the use of theconstruct for a physical exhibit, as in a museum setting.

Referring again to FIG. 7, examples of representations that may beprovided by the present invention are described below.

Topic Set Overview View

Referring to FIG. 7, block 702, he topic set overview representation 702provides the user with the totality of their topic set (being thedefinition of the problem, issues, questions or other means of definingthe focus of the inquiry based project), as it exists at the time theview is performed. In one embodiment of the present invention, the topicset is represented in the form of a web as illustrated in the partialexample of FIGS. 5A-42. An alternative embodiment may provide the topicset in the form of an outline as illustrated in FIGS. 4A-10.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the following are includedin the topic set overview: (i) main topic; (ii) sub-topics; (iii)secondary subtopics; (iv) any additional levels of subtopics; (v)linkages between all elements in the topic set; and (vi) method andprocess associated with the topic set, including the ability to create,change, edit, link, and rearrange topics, as well as problem definitionor topic definition help or assistance. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the top of the three-dimensional overview representation isdesignated for the topic set overview view in a preferred embodiment, aswith all views of the integrated construct, the components that appearin this view are all generally actionable by the user (unless thecomponents have been otherwise designated as unchangeable as discussedelsewhere herein). This means that the user may select any one of themto review, change, or add to any of the content or structure of theselected component, with the same range of functionality generally aswhen the user first created that component.

Topic Set Drill Down View

Similar to the topic set overview, the present invention may provide aview of the integrated construct which enables the user to reviewportions of the total topic set and its linkages and relationships inadditional detail, indicated on FIG. 7 by block 704, for example to viewa subset of a large or complex topic set This view may be mostapplicable in more complex integrated constructs. Capabilities for thesubset of topics provided is similar to that provided for the Topic SetView.

Individual Topic View

Referring again to FIG. 7, block 706, in one embodiment, the viewmanager provides an individual topic (or subtopic or secondary subtopicas described elsewhere herein) view that generally enables the user toreview and work on the subset of the total integrated construct which isassociated with an individual topic (or subtopic), question, issue,problem or other means of defining the focus of an inquiry basedproject. In one embodiment of the present invention, the number ofIndividual topic views available corresponds to the number of subtopicsthe user has defined within the integrated construct. In anotherembodiment of the present invention, the number of individual topicviews available corresponds to the number of secondary subtopics, whichcan be accessed from either the topic set overview view, or a topic setdrilldown view as appropriate, and others. Similar subsetting views maybe provided to accommodate the nature and complexity of the specificintegrated construct.

The individual topic (or subtopic or secondary or other subtopic) view706 generally represents the totality of the integrated construct whichis associated at any given point in the development of an inquiry basedproject with the individual topic, question, problem or issue ofinterest (or first type of thinking structure). In this manner, thepresent invention may then provide a meaningful subset of thepotentially complex total integrated construct structure, and enablefocus by the user on working on one meaningful slice. An example of one3-D embodiment for the components and depiction of an individual topic(subtopic or secondary subtopic) view is shown in FIG. 7A and maygenerally include: (i) subtopic or secondary, or other subtopic which isthe subject of the view; (ii) any associated data, information,information elements and/or information constructs which have thus farbeen linked to or associated with the subtopic or secondary subtopic;(iii) any associated analysis constructs which have thus far been linkedto or associated with the subtopic or secondary or other subtopic; (iv)any meaning statements which have been linked to or associated with thesubtopic or secondary subtopic; (v) any notes regarding what is to bedone next, what additional information is needed or, relevant projectplan items which have been linked to or associated with the subtopic orsecondary subtopic; (vi) access to project plans, especially any plannedresearch; (v) access to electronic information sources (as describedelsewhere herein) and (vi) access to related portions of the method andprocess of the present invention for the assistance or guidance in eachof the above associated component types, as well as the method andprocess associated with creating, editing, or otherwise modifying theassociated component types above, and others. FIG. 7A depicts a threedimensional ITKC with a individual subtopic view which thus far has 2information constructs associated with it (George Washington and JamesMadison) but has not yet developed meaning or analysis for thissubtopic.

The present invention further provides for more detailed views ofcomponents associated with individual subtopics or secondary subtopics.It is to be appreciated that such additional detailed views follow fromand are in accordance with the present invention on any or all of theadditional views or representations provided.

Individual Meaning Statement View

Referring again to FIG. 7, the individual meaning statement view block730 enables the user to view and work on the subset of the entireintegrated construct that has been or is to be associated with anindividual meaning statement. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the number of individual highest level meaning statementsviews available correspond to the number of meaning statements createdat the highest level as defined by the user within the integratedconstruct. In another embodiment of the present invention, the number ofindividual meaning statement views available correspond to the number ofsecondary meaning statements.

The individual meaning statement view generally represents the totalityof the integrated construct, which is associated thus far with anindividual meaning statement (or second type of thinking structure). Inthis manner, the present invention may provide a meaningful subset ofthe potentially complex total integrated construct structure, and enablefocus by the user on working on one meaningful slice. The meaningstatement view may generally provide a focus on working on what theinformation and analysis components mean to the user, building toward ananswer or summary view. The meaning statement view is likely to besignificantly different than the views that are provided based on theindividual topics, as described above. An example of one embodiment ofthe individual meaning statement view generally may include any or allof the following: (i) a meaning statement or secondary meaning statementwhich is the focus of the view; (ii) any associated information,information elements or Information constructs which have thus far beenlinked to or associated with the meaning statement or secondary meaningstatement; (iii) any associated analysis constructs which have beenlinked to or associated with the meaning statement or secondary meaningstatement; (iv) any notes regarding what to do next, relevant projectplan which have thus far been linked to or associated with the specificmeaning statement or secondary meaning statement; and (v) access to anymethod or process associated with all of the above.

As with all representations provided by the present invention, thecomponents represented on the meaning statement view are all generallyactionable by the user. This means that the components can be: (i)selected to reveal their detailed contents; (ii) edited or changed;(iii) deleted; or (iv) replaced or enhanced with new or additionalcomponents.

Individual Information Construct View

Referring to FIG. 7, block 710, information constructs that have beencreated are indicated and made available in several representationalviews as icons, labels, or thumbnails of their contents. If the userselects a previously created Information construct, generally accordingto interactive mechanisms described herein or generally used in the art,the contents associated with the selected information construct aredisplayed via the individual information construct view.

As with all representations provided by the present invention, thecomponents displayed in the individual information construct view aregenerally actionable, unless they have been protected from change by aprevious author. This means they can generally be edited, changed,deleted, or added to readily from the individual information constructview. In one embodiment, the individual information construct view maygenerally include the following: (i) information construct label ortitle; (ii) information construct type (as chosen, or undefined); (iii)information construct unformatted information elements; (iv) informationconstruct formatted information elements; (v) links to other informationconstructs; (vi) links to analysis constructs; (vii) links to availabletopics, subtopics, secondary topics; (viii) links to available meaningstatements; and (ix) access to method and process associated with thecreation and editing of the information construct and its linkages

Individual Analysis Construct View

Referring to FIG. 7, block 720, analysis constructs that have beencreated are similarly available in many representational views as icons,labels, or thumbnails of their contents. If the user selects apreviously created analysis construct, according to interactivemechanisms described herein or those generally used in the art, thecontents associated with the selected analysis construct are displayedvia the individual analysis construct view.

As with the other representations provided by the present invention, thecomponents displayed in the individual analysis construct view aregenerally actionable, unless they have been specifically protected fromchange by a previous author. This means they generally can be edited,changed, deleted, or added to readily from the individual analysisconstruct view. In addition, links that appear in the representationalview are generally available as navigation means to access the detailassociated with the linked component.

The individual analysis construct view 720 of FIG. 7 generally mayinclude the following: (i) analysis construct label or title; (ii)analysis construct field for observational comment regarding theanalysis construct; (iii) related information constructs; (iv) relatedinformation elements of information constructs; (v) related analysisconstructs; (vi) related available subtopics, and secondary subtopics;(vii) related available meaning statements; (viii) other availableinformation constructs in existence at the time of viewing; (ix)information construct formatted information elements; and (x) access tomethod and process associated with the analysis construct or relatedfunctions.

Collection of Information Constructs View

Referring again to FIG. 7, the collection of information constructs viewblock 715 generally may provide a representation of the totality ofinformation constructs created for or associated with the integratedconstruct at the time the view is so created. Icons, thumbnails, lists,and/or labels of such items or other forms thereof may be used to depictthis inventory of information constructs to date. Information constructsso displayed in such a representation are actionable (unless protectedfrom change earlier) as in any other view: for viewing at a detailedlevel, for editing, for viewing or changing links, etc. In oneembodiment, the representation of the collection of informationconstructs created may include a grouping of the information constructsaccording to type, and a visual distinction of how much data orinformation is contained in or otherwise associated with the particularInformation construct. In anther embodiment, the representation of thecollection of information constructs allows for grouping by category,theme, or other meaningful group, as discussed earlier herein.

Collection of Analysis Constructs View

Referring again to FIG. 7, the collection of analysis constructs view725 may generally provide a representation of the totality of analysisconstructs created for or associated with the integrated construct atthe time the view is so created. Icons, thumbnails, lists, and/or labelsof such items or other similar forms thereof may be used to depict thisinventory of analysis constructs to date. Analysis constructs sodisplayed in such a representation are generally actionable as in anyother view (except where otherwise protected): for viewing at a detailedlevel, for editing, for viewing or changing links, etc. In oneembodiment, the representation of the collection of analysis constructscreated may include a grouping of the analysis constructs according totype, and a visual distinction of how much data or information iscontained in or otherwise associated with the particular analysisconstruct. In another embodiment, the collection of analysis constructsmay be represented in groups or categories according to their linkage tosubtopics or meaning statements, or other categories or groups.

Answer or Summary Set

Referring to FIG. 7, block 760, the preferred embodiment furtherprovides for a view, which focuses on the answer or summary set, and arelated view, block 750 that allows for the representation of both theanswer or summary set and the meaning statements as a set.

Topic Meaning Statement Overlay View

Referring again to FIG. 7 block 770, the present invention may provide aview which represents the topic set and the meaning statement set of therespective integrated construct, and which depicts the relationshipsbetween these two thinking structures of the integrated construct.

Linkage View

Referring to FIG. 7, the linkage view 780 representation may begenerally available at any time for any component associated with theintegrated construct. In one embodiment, the linkage view is providedwhen the user selects any component, and the user activates the rightclick on the computer mouse. In another embodiment, the linkage view isprovided when the user selects any component and a subsequent choice ismade from a menu provided. There are any number of specific user actionsthat may be used to trigger the display of the linkage viewrepresentation, without departing from the scope or the intent of thepresent invention.

When the user invokes the linkage view, a representation is providedwhich shows all linkages from the chosen component to other componentswithin the integrated construct at the time the representation isaccessed. In one embodiment, the linkage view of a knowledge constructshows only links between knowledge constructs (being informationconstructs and analysis constructs), as opposed to links to all thinkingconstructs (topics, meaning statements, answers). In one embodiment, theintegrated construct component, which is the focus of the linkage view,is shown as the component in the center of the representation. Theintegrated construct component, which is the focus of the linkage view,can be selected by the user in order to show the contents of thecomponent, as described for example, in the individual informationconstruct view or individual analysis construct view described above.FIG. 7D is an example of a linkage view of one embodiment.

Overall Integrated Construct Overview

Referring to FIG. 7, when the overall integrated construct overview 700is invoked by the user, a representation is provided which shows adepiction of the overall integrated construct, as it exists at the timethe representation is invoked. Regions and other views are generallyavailable to the user to select from this overall integrated constructoverview, by selecting the portion of the integrated construct visiblewhich the user wishes to see in greater detail. Selection of a portionof the depiction of the overall integrated construct invokes theappropriate next representation, with its associated content and methodand process then available to the user.

In one embodiment of the overall integrated construct overview, colorand shapes may be used to distinguish and depict the boundaries of thevarious regions, slice or other views. In addition, the placement andshape of the facets and areas of the integrated construct as depicted inthe overall integrated construct overview may be used to distinguish theviews of combinations of components which are available to the user, andwhich thereby provide the user with the content, linkages of theintegrated construct and the method and process portions relevant tocreating, editing, and viewing the components of the integratedconstruct. As has been described elsewhere above, the overall integratedconstruct depiction is specifically designed to provide an overall viewof the progress the structure and process of the user's ITKC is making,and uses a number of visual distinction mechanisms, as defined elsewhereherein, to depict this progress and imply the user where they might wantto focus their energies next. Whether provided as a 3-D physical-likerepresentation, an outline, a matrix or other visualization, thedepiction of the integrated construct provides a visualization and mapof the total project, its components, linkages and the steps that havebeen taken in its construction.

As used herein the term arbitrary problem includes qualitativeexpressions of problems, quantitative problems, and combinationsthereof.

In addition, the description often uses the term “construct” inconnection with the description of preferred implementations. By thisterm it is meant an organized collection of the relevant data. The termis not meant to be limited to any particular form of data structure ororganization, though certain preferred implementations organize dataaccording to object oriented design principles.

When referring to the term “archetype” as in archetype process orarchetype structure, the intent is to cover exemplary, though notnecessarily optimal, processes or structures.

When referring to the term “integrated” the intent is to cover thingsoperating harmoniously, or uniting components that were previouslyregarded as separate.

System and Methods for Archetype Enabled Research and Search

Different embodiments of the present invention provide new and improvedsupport to users' research and searching activities, including forexample, identifying relevant research and knowledge development needs,finding relevant information, organizing and formatting results and (insome cases) analysis development activities. In preferred embodiments ofthe archetype enabled research and search systems and methods provideassistance, guidance, and improved research and search productivitybased on the problem solving and researching approaches of expertproblem solvers or researchers.

Preferred embodiments of the archetype enabled research and searchsystems and methods essentially utilize portions of the ITKC system andmethod to provide improved research and search support (discussed belowand also elsewhere herein), and may do so both for users who are workingon or otherwise have at least one ITKC of interest related to theirresearching and searching activities, and for users who wish to utilizethe archetype enabled capabilities of the system and method for improvedresearch and search, but in the absence of a pre-existing or otherwiserelated ITKC. In the following descriptions, both of these use types maybe discussed, in order to more fully explain the aspects of theinvention. It should be appreciated that at a plurality of pointsthroughout the archetype enabled research and search processes, someembodiments of the present invention prompt or otherwise allow a user orusers to activate or otherwise “enter” the full ITKC system and methodas well. It should further be appreciated that like the ITKC system andmethod, the systems and methods for archetype enabled research andsearch are modular in their design, and the subset modules of thepresent invention may be utilized individually, as subsets, or in theirentirety without departing from the intended scope of the invention,also discussed more fully herein.

For example, referring to FIG. 5, some embodiments of the archetypeenabled research and search systems and methods may for example utilizeportions of the ITKC system and method associated, for example withportions of block 520—defining the problem, block 540—create projectstructures, block 555—select subset for thinking and working, block560—conduct research and gather information, block 562—organizeinformation, information constructs, block 564—develop analysis,analysis constructs in addition to functions of the process suggestormanager or other portions discussed elsewhere herein. It should beappreciated that the precise boundaries of the ITKC related modules thatmay be utilized in the archetype enabled research and search systems andmethods may be accomplished in a plurality of exact ways, in keepingwith the disclosure herein.

Advantages of the improved research and search systems and methodsprovided by the archetype enabled present invention are discussed morefully below and will become evident with the detailed description below.In preferred embodiments, the use of archetype enabled research andsearch systems and methods improves the robustness of informationalneeds or inquiry Paths taken by a user in a specific research situation,as well as the quality and productivity of the searching process and theusefulness and form of search results, through the application of anarchetype structure, archetype process and other factors at variouspoints in the overall researching process, discussed more fully below.

The present invention provides significant improvements to severalaspects of search systems as currently understood. As context for thepresent invention, general aspects of search systems are describedgenerally now but not in detail as they include several elements wellunderstood by those familiar with or skilled in the art. Specificdescriptions of the present invention and the manner in which archetypeenabled search systems and methods are embodied are described more fullybelow.

According to embodiments of search systems generally, an inquiryoriginator seeks information and in particular the information mostrelevant to an information need. Such an inquiry originator may be aperson, a team or group, or an electronic source or system seeking suchinformation. In the typical search engine or searching system, a user orusers enter an inquiry for information that is their “best guess” at aset of terms, phrases or other requesting input that they hope willreturn relevant information. At a high level, in one embodiment, thetypical search methods and system act upon the input received from aninquiry originator, and through a series of modules, return a set ofresults. In generally known typical search systems, results are oftenreferred to as a set of “hits” of information (and are usuallyreferences to documents, sometimes with abstracts, summary or other highlevel information about the reference, but may also be content or datatypes), which are determined by the overall search system to be mostrelevant to the inquiry originator's information needs.

In many embodiments and use cases, a typical search system searchesamong a set of documents or corpus of documents in order to determinethe “hits” or selected documents that are determined to best meet thesearch inquiry criteria. It should be understood by those skilled in theart that the term “document” is intended to refer to an item within thecorpus being searched. It should be further understood that a “document”may therefore refer to a file, a written text set, a combination of textand graphics and other electronic media considered an item. A “document”may also refer to a part of what would be considered a document in othersituations, such as a subset or text (sentence, snippet, paragraph,portion, etc.) or subset of other electronic media content, programcode, or a portion of a stored file, and others.

In some typical search systems, search results or “hits” may be furtherranked or prioritized in some fashion before the results are presented.Many typical search systems accept and process queries and return search“hits” or results in real time or near real time. Results provided maynumber in the thousands, and a typical user situation involves thesifting through or otherwise reviewing of individual results to see iftheir needed information is there.

In a typical search system, the user or users then determine whether totry a different or additional searching inquiry input. If so, theprocess is essentially repeated with a different or additional inquiryinput.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention enhance typical searchsystems through the application of an archetype structure or archetypeprocess, or both (such as provided by for example the ITKC System andMethod described elsewhere herein), which may in different embodimentsbe applied or employed at a plurality of points and in a plurality ofways in the overall research and search process, described more fullybelow. Preferred embodiments of the present invention may also beimplemented from several different placements within a search systemenvironment. Referring to FIG. 9, for example, the methods and systemsthat comprise the exemplary archetype-enabled search invention may beprovided on or from a client system (shown in block 9001), one or moreserver systems (shown schematically in block 9005), and/or one or morecontent server systems (shown in block 9006). Also as shown in FIG. 9,block 9010, for example, the present invention is intended for use insearches involving a plurality of documents and information types, andmay utilize various well understood mechanisms for locating documents orinformation, included but not limited to an internet crawler (block9013), a document set crawler (block 9011), internet document generator(block 9012), hierarchical document structures (9015), documentgenerators (block 9014) and others that provide access to some corpus ofdocuments (represented in block 9010).

Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide archetype enabledsearch methods and system functionality in at least two different cases:first, in the case in which the user or user related context (via, forexample, the client system) provides input in the form of an inquiry tothe archetype enabled search system and methods which is related to anIntegrated Thinking and Knowledge Construct (ITKC) user developed modelor similarly structured construct (as for example, constructed by aSystem and Method for Facilitating and Evaluating User Thinking About anArbitrary Problem); secondly, in the case in which the user, users orelectronic source provides input or inquiry to the archetype enabledsearch system in the absence of an existing ITKC or user developedmodel, or with a very minimal ITKC, as, for example, in the user orother electronic source providing only a main question or topic as inputto the archetype-enabled search methods and system, as described morefully below and elsewhere herein.

It should be appreciated that programming code for implementing aspectsof the invention can be produced in any suitable language, scripting, orcoding mechanism, such as C, C++, Java, Javascript, HTML, XML, VBScript,or any other that can be caused to be executed on a suitable processor,such as a client system or a server system or be compiled to execute ona client system or a server system or other processor.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of one example embodiment of a search systemenvironment in which methods and systems, consistent with someembodiments of the invention, may be implemented. The system may beimplemented in an environment that includes one or multiple clientsconnected to one or multiple servers, via a network (block 9008) whichmay be any type of suitable network, including but not limited to LANSand intranets which may be connected over WANS including for example theInternet. For illustrative purposes, FIG. 9 shows 3 clients (blocks9001, 9002, and 9003) and 4 servers (2 as search servers in blocks 9004and 9005, and 2 as content servers, in blocks 9006 and 9007). In someembodiments, the present invention will conduct searches throughinteracting with available search engines (shown in block 9030). Inimplementations of the present invention, there may be more or fewerclients or servers, and (as well understood by those familiar with theart), a client apparatus may act to perform the functions of a serverapparatus and a server apparatus may act to perform the functions of aclient. Several components in the system illustrated in FIG. 9 includewell understood elements that are not explained in detail here, as theyare well understood by those familiar with the art.

In some embodiments, the client system may include a number of suitableelements, such as but not limited to a desktop personal computer, aworkstation, a PDA, a laptop, a cell phone, a set top or any othersuitable element. Client system will typically incorporate one or moresuitable user interface devices, which may include for example, akeyboard, a mouse, a pen or stylus, a touch screen, or others configuredin some embodiments to interact with a graphical user interface such asa LCD display, monitor, screen or other display mechanism. In someembodiments of the present invention, the methods and systems of thepresent invention interact with electronic input in the absence of anyspecific display mechanism. In many embodiments or implementations,client system often includes or operates other programs such as abrowser program (such as Explorer, Netscape, or other browser programs),and in some embodiments is likely to include other commonly usedsoftware tools, such as office tools (a word processor, a spreadsheetprocessor, presentation development tools, web site publishing tools,and the like), as well as access to electronic mail and other commoncommunications related programs (such as Outlook, email, and othercommunications programs). In some embodiments, the client system willalso include an application module providing the functionalityassociated with the System and Method for Facilitating and EvaluatingUser Thinking About an Arbitrary Problem, and may also include thestorage or access to one or more resultant thinking and knowledgestructures (or ITKC's). However, as described more fully below andelsewhere herein, the presence of or access or relationship to anexisting ITKC is not a prerequisite for the utilization of or advantagesprovided by the archetype enabled search invention discussed herein.

Continuing with FIG. 9, according to one embodiment, a clientapplication module for executing on a client system typically includesinstructions for directing the client system and its components and mayalso include instructions for communicating with server systems and toprocess and receive and in some cases to display content or datareceived from the server systems or content server systems of otherportions of the network, as discussed below and elsewhere herein andwell understood by those familiar with the art. The client applicationmodule may be transmitted and downloaded to client system from a sourcesuch as a server, remotely or locally located, or may be provided on anysuitable storage medium, such as a CD, DVD, floppy disk or any othersuitable medium, or may be provided resident on the client or othersuitable processor. In some embodiments, the functionality associatedwith the client application may be provided remotely via web services orother suitable remote processing and provisioning techniques wellunderstood by those familiar with the art, and suitable for providingfunctionality and data and content access to the user, users, orelectronic requesting source. For example, in one embodiment, a clientmodule may be provided via the Internet or other network to the clientsystem in an HTML wrapper, with various controls such as embedded ActiveX or JavaScript controls, or via the use of SOAP envelopes, or otherremote provisioning mechanisms, methods, or systems.

Continuing with FIG. 9, which illustrates a typical search systemenvironment for some embodiments of the present invention, one or manyserver systems (blocks 9004, 9005, 9006, and 9007) may be operable tocommunicate with and provide search result data and media content to oneor more client system(s) (blocks 9001, 9002, 9003). According to oneembodiment of the invention, a server application module may execute onone or more server systems that may house one, some, a combination orall of the methods and system modules in an embodiment of the presentinvention, discussed elsewhere herein.

Continuing with FIG. 9, a typical search system environment for someembodiments of the present invention may also include one or morecontent server systems (blocks 9006 and 9007) configured to provide dataand/or other media or content. In some embodiments of the presentinvention, and in keeping with practices and approaches well understoodby those skilled in the art, one or more content server systems mayinclude one, some, a combination of, or all of the methods and systemsmodules of the present invention, discussed elsewhere herein. In someembodiments, a content server centric implementation of the presentinvention also includes a customized archetype structure, as forinstance, related to a specific specialization or domain area.

According to one embodiment, the present invention's archetype enabledsearch methods and systems are configured to provide search result dataor other content to an inquiry originator via a combination of searchmodules that may be resident or provided or otherwise process on one ormore client systems, search server systems, content server systems, orother processing locales. Referring to FIG. 9 for illustration purposes,the modules for accomplishing the methods and systems of the presentinvention, may be resident or located or otherwise provided through oneor more client systems (block 9001, via 9020), search server systems(block 9005, via block 9021), and/or content server systems (block 9006,via 9022). The optimal implementation of the archetype enabled searchinvention's system modules and methods will depend upon factors such asbut not limited to: the number and location of users being served,whether the user is initiating an inquiry that is related to an ITKC oruser developed model or other similar structure (described also morebelow), the scope and depth of content and data being included orincorporated in the search process, the costs and availability ofprocessing at the local and remote levels, and others. Although examplesof exemplary placement of archetype search modules are discussed herein,it should be understood that the exact delineation of placement orprovisioning of the portions of the methods and systems associated withthe exemplary archetype enabled search invention is not limited to theseexamples, but may be implemented in a variety of ways and provisionedvia a number of processing locations and approaches, well understood bythose skilled in the art.

FIG. 10 shows illustrative or example method and system modules that mayin one embodiment be utilized to accomplish the archetype-enabled searchmethods and systems that in some embodiments make up the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 10, one embodiment of method and systems modules usedto accomplish the archetype search system and methods may include, forexample, one or more of the following: 1.) an inquiry processor orsimilar module, shown in block 10020, that generally accepts andevaluates the input or inquiry being processed, block 10010, and mayinclude the evaluation of input context, block 10011, such as theexistence of a related ITKC or user developed model to theinput/inquiry, or indication of an archetype process step, or others,indicated in block 10011; 2.) an archetype enabled search argumentgenerator or similar module, shown in block 10030, that generallygenerates search arguments (for example, in blocks 10031 through 10039)through a combination of factors including but not limited to theapplication of an archetype structure or archetype process or bothdiscussed more fully herein; 3.) a search structure manager or similarmodule, shown in block 10040, that generally relates and manages searcharguments in one or more search structures; 4.) a search conductionmanager or similar module, shown in block 10050, that generally ensuresthat the searches are conducted and at the time that is desired orindicated; 5.) an archetype enabled search results prioritizationmanager or similar module, shown in block 10060, that may in someembodiments include the application of an archetype structure orarchetype process or both to the filtering and ranking of searchresults; 6.) an archetype enabled search results formatter, block 10070,that may in some embodiments utilize the application of an archetypestructure or archetype or archetype process or both to format results,and may include others. It should be appreciated that the boundaries andnames for the modules that may be used to accomplish the methods andsystems of the present invention may not be configured precisely asdescribed here, but rather may be combined or bounded or scoped or namedin ways that differ from the modules used for illustrative purposed herewithout departing from the present invention. Moreover, it should beappreciated that the present invention continues with a modular approachand may therefore be implemented in subsets of functionality that areother than those specifically described and illustrated herein.

FIG. 10 and the modules it shows are intended to be illustrative, and itshould be understood that the precise boundaries or configuration of themethods and systems of the present invention may be divided, combined,or configured in different combinations or boundaries without departingfrom the scope and the intent of the invention. It should further beunderstood that some embodiments and implementations of the archetypeenabled search system will include subsets of the total modulesillustrated in FIG. 10. For example, in one embodiment,archetype-enabled search systems and methods includes the generation ofenhanced or additional search arguments through the application of anarchetype structure or archetype process or both and might beaccomplished with modules such as an inquiry processor (block 10010) orsimilar module, an archetype enabled suggestion generator (block 10025)(which in some embodiments performs the suggestioning processing definedfor example in FIG. 8 block 8024 and further defined in FIG. 11) and anarchetype enabled search argument generator (block 10030) or similarmodule, with or without a search structure manager (block 10040) orsimilar module. In other embodiments, archetype-enabled search systemsand methods include the application of an archetype structure orarchetype process or both to filtering, and/or ranking or prioritizingthe results for the search, via, for example, a module such as anarchetype enabled search results prioritizer (block 10060) or similarmodule. In another embodiment, archetype-enabled search methods andsystems include the application of archetype-enabled search to formatand present search results to a user (a person, a group, or anelectronic source), via a module such as an archetype enabled searchresults formatter (block 10070) or similar module. In one preferredembodiment, archetype-enabled search methods and systems include acombination of two, more, or all of these portions of methods andsystems related to archetype enabled search.

One embodiment of flows for an exemplary archetype enabled search systemto actualize the methods and systems of the present invention will nowbe described. It should be understood that the following description isintended to be illustrative, and that other precise flows or flowrelated modules that accomplish the same or similar function to thosedescribed below should be considered within the scope of the presentinvention.

The flow descriptions are provided in several Figures, with a high levelflow description shown in FIG. 8, and additional more detailed flowsdepicted in FIGS. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16.

Referring to FIG. 8 (which provides a high level description of oneembodiment of flows related to the present invention) in one embodimentof the present invention, an inquiry processor or similar module(indicated in FIG. 10, block 10010 which describes representativemodules), in one example resident on one or more client systems,receives and processes input (shown in block 8010) from a user or otherinquiry originator, indicated in FIG. 8 block 8001. It should beunderstood that an inquiry originator may be an individual user (block8002), a group or team or users (block 8003), or any electronic or othersource (block 8004) capable of producing an input that may beinterpreted and processed in accordance with the methods and systemsconsistent with the present invention. The input (block 8001) may beprovided via one or more fields or input spaces provided via one or moreinterface modules to the user, users, or electronic source, or may beaccepted by the present invention's methods and systems via electronicinput without any visual or other interface provided to the user(s) orother source (for example in the case in which the inquiry input isbeing provided by a system such as the System and Method forFacilitating and Evaluating User Thinking About an Arbitrary Problem oranother electronic source).

FIG. 8 is a high level representation of flows that in some embodimentsmay be used to accomplish the present invention, and is intended only toserve as a useful overview, and to show illustratively some of thepoints at which the present invention provides unique and usefuladvantages.

Referring then to the high level flow description in FIG. 8, in oneembodiment, the present invention evaluates the input or inquiry (shownin block 8020) which may be either related to an ITKC or user developedmodel (in block 8015) or unrelated to an ITKC or user developed model(in block 8016), utilizing the rules, definitions, and other componentsand structure analysis logic and content analysis logic from thearchetype structure (block 1500), which may in some embodiments alsoinclude or utilize a customized archetype structure (block 1510, as forexample appropriate in situations when a domain or problem specific orother specialized or customized archetype structure is determined to beappropriate) and in some cases and embodiments, the archetype process(block 2000), as described more fully elsewhere herein. Based on theevaluation of the input or inquiry, in block 8020, and utilizing therelevant archetypes and other factors described herein, the presentinvention in one embodiment then generates suggestions (in block 8024)relative to the inquiry and through the actions of the process managersuggestor (block 390) or similar module, also described elsewhere herein(see for example block 390 in FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B, FIGS. 3B-10, andothers). In some embodiments, such generated suggestions may be reviewedand/or approved by the inquiry originator before proceeding. Continuingwith FIG. 8, preferred embodiments of the present invention thengenerate search arguments (shown in block 8030) which are determined tobe relevant to the input or inquiry being processed, and in the relevantcases, also to the additional input context, such as the related ITKC orarchetype process in those cases in which the inquiry or input isrelated to an ITKC or to the use of a system such as the system andmethod for facilitating and evaluating user thinking about an arbitraryproblem, and other archetype and other factors described elsewhereherein. Continuing with FIG. 8, in one embodiment, the present inventionmay map the generated search arguments into a search structure, as shownin block 8040 and discussed more fully elsewhere herein, again at timesutilizing particularly the archetype structure, block 1500 andpotentially any customized archetype structures (block 1510) determinedto be relevant, and archetype process (block 2000) and other factorsalso discussed elsewhere herein.

Continuing with FIG. 8, in one embodiment, the present invention thenconducts or causes to have conducted the searches implied by the searcharguments, shown in block 8050, upon some set of information sources,shown in block 8055, which may in some embodiments be accomplishedthrough the reference to or use of additional search engines or agents,shown in block 8052. In some embodiments, continuing with FIG. 8, thepresent invention may filter and/or rank and/or otherwise prioritizesearch results, again utilizing the archetypes and/or other factorsdiscussed elsewhere herein, shown in block 8060, to provide moreon-target and useful search results. Preferred embodiments of thepresent invention also format search results, shown in FIG. 8070, andmay present or otherwise output search results in formatted forms, block8080, based again in some embodiments upon the archetype structure(block 1500) and any associated customized archetype structure(s) (block1510) and potentially also based on the other factors describedelsewhere herein.

Referring now to FIG. 11, the inquiry processor or similar module in oneembodiment, evaluates the inquiry or input (block 8010) provided, alongwith any available user context (block 8011) and determines whether ornot an ITKC (block 1000) or user developed model or similar construct isindicated as being related to the inquiry (block 8012), or whether anarchetype process portion is the context for the input or inquiry beingprocessed In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11 Block 8021, if an ITKCor user developed model (or similar structure) or archetype processportion is determined to be related to the input to be processed, thenthe present invention may evaluate additional input provided by, forexample, the ITKC (block 1000) and the provided inquiry input (block8010) against archetype structure and/or archetype process and otherfactors discussed elsewhere herein, in order to determine whether anysuggestions may or should be made (block 8023 and block 8024) regardingfor example, new, revised or additional ITKC components, which may betermed suggested inquiry constructs (in the case that is related to anITKC use, shown in block 8026) or new, additional or revised suggestedinquiry areas (in the case that is not related to an ITKC use, shown inblock 8025) (see also descriptions of process manager suggestor moduleshown in block 390 and examples provided elsewhere herein, for exampleblock 390 in FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B, FIGS. 3B-10, FIG. 5A. FIG. 5B andothers). Alternatively, in some embodiments, as shown in blocks 8022,8023 and 8025, the present invention evaluates factors such as the inputor inquiry (block 8010), any user context (block 8011) and applies thearchetype structure (block 1500), customized archetype structure if any(block 1510) and/or other factors as discussed to generate suggestionsin the absence of any related ITKC or user developed model or ITKCprocess portion. In these embodiments, such suggestions are in a senserepresentative of knowledge needs, and are then utilized for further ormodified search argument development. In some embodiments, suchsuggestions or suggested inquiry areas may be provided to the user(s)for review and approval (shown in block 8027), and for example, may beprovided in the form of specific prompts to the user (for example, thevisual or other display or notification of possible or suggested nextsteps or additional or modified constructs or data). In otherembodiments, such suggestions (whether based in part upon a related ITKCor not) may instead be automatically created (shown in block 8028) inseveral forms, as for example, as a construct that may be subsequentlyused to generate search arguments, without first prompting the user(s)to evaluate the suggestion. Such auto-creation may, for example, in someembodiments, be set as a user preference or may be warranted by thespecific suggestion case.

In some embodiments, the present invention may provide controls to enactoptions for user(s) (or teacher or super user or other source) definedchoices regarding the extent to which actions that are identified andsuggested by the process manager suggestor or similar module areexecuted automatically, vs. the invention prompting the user with thesuggestion or suggested inquiry area before completing all informationprocessing actions that could logically be completed next for thesuggestion. One embodiment of the invention may provide for the user(s)or definer for the project (such as a teacher, super user, or othersource) to select whether suggested items are automatically generatedbefore prompting the user for their approval, or whether approval isrequired before the new or adjusted recommended ITKC components, orsuggested inquiry constructs or new or revised suggested inquiry areasare generated and shown either as suggested search arguments, assuggested constructs, or only as results or constructed constructsfollowing the completion of a search or other forms (see alsodescription of results formatting and autogeneration of ITKC componentsconsidered as constructed inquiry constructs discussed elsewhereherein).

In some embodiments, also discussed further herein, the presentinvention's identification or development of suggestions for new ormodified ITKC components or suggested inquiry areas (based on forexample, evaluating the input inquiry, and/or the archetype structureand other factors discussed elsewhere herein), may be treated as aninterim step on the way to developing the most appropriate searcharguments. In these embodiments, such suggestions for new or modifiedITKC components or additional or modified suggested inquiry areas thatgive rise to new or modified or additional search arguments may not bemade visible to the user. Rather, in these embodiments, for example, thepresent invention may only make the search arguments and/or searchresults that are the result of such archetype search generation logicvisible or available to the user(s) or other electronic inquiryoriginator. In these embodiments, such suggestions (for example,additional questions or topics related to the input or inquiry,additional or modified analysis or information constructs, and otherknowledge or data items) may be treated as “interim” suggestions,potentially invisible to the user. In some of these embodiments, thevisible result to the user of such analysis and suggestioning logic mayonly be visible as suggested search arguments and/or search results, oronly in search results, discussed further elsewhere herein.

It should be appreciated that a plurality of forms of providing one ormore suggestions regarding inquiry areas to a user or users can be usedin accordance with the present invention (also indicated for example inthe descriptions of the options and types of suggestioning andsuggestioning formats and presenting formats described elsewhereherein.) For example, preferred embodiments of the present invention mayprovide one or suggestions to a user or users: 1.) as one or a set ofspecific suggestions based on the inquiry and archetype and otheranalysis: 2.) as a collection of options for user or users to selectfrom (as for example, in providing a set of potential topic areas (seefor example description of the question assistance tool describedelsewhere herein); It should further be appreciated that a plurality ofapproaches can be used to provide an archetype enabled suggested inquiryarea or suggested inquiry construct to a user or users without departingfrom the scope of the present invention.

Referring again to FIG. 11, in preferred embodiments, a core capabilityis the ability of the methods and system to evaluate the inquiry inputand various factors discussed herein, such as but not limited to theinput or inquiry, the archetypes structure (block 1500), customizedarchetype structure (block 1510), archetype process (block 2000), anyrelated or aggregated search structures (block 8045) the content and/orstructure of any related Integrated Thinking and Knowledge Construct (orITKC) user developed model or other similar structure (in block 1000),process status, and available data), and, and to generate suggestionsfor users as a result. It should be appreciated that the presentinvention may utilize one, some, or all of these and other factorsdiscussed elsewhere herein and also understood by those skilled in theart in order to generate suggestions, without departing from the scopeof this invention. In one embodiment, such suggestions may be in theform of a prompt with user intervention for approval, editing, ordeletion or the present invention may automatically generate the new orrevised search argument, structure or content for review by the user anddeletion if desired.

In one embodiment (discussed also elsewhere herein in the discussions ofthe applications of archetypes to suggestioning), suggestions may bebased on the evaluation of a plurality of items and result in aplurality of suggestion types, which may for example include suggestionsof new, revised or additional ITKC components in the case in which thesearch inquiry is related to one or more ITKC's or suggestions of new,revised, or additional inquiry areas in the case in which the searchinquiry is not related to one or more ITKC's (also described elsewhereherein). For example, preferred embodiments of the present invention maygenerate suggestions of a plurality of types, which may include one,some, none or all but not be limited to the following: 1.) thesuggestion of specific subtopics or additional or revised topic orquestion suggested inquiry areas based on evaluation of the input orinquiry, an archetype or customized archetype structure, and/or anytopics or questions in any related ITKC or user developed model, if any;2.) the suggestion of analysis constructs or analysis construct inquiryareas based on evaluation of the input or inquiry, an archetype orcustomized archetype structure, and potentially on any suggestedsubtopics or subquestions; 3.) the suggestion of information constructsor information construct inquiry areas based on evaluation of the inputor inquiry, and/or any topics or questions in a related ITKC or userdeveloped model, if any, with or without the archetypes; 4.) thesuggestion of analysis constructs or analysis construct inquiry areasbased on prior developed or other suggested analysis constructs oranalysis construct inquiry areas; 5.) the suggestion of analysisconstructs or analysis construct inquiry areas based on informationconstructs suggested or available in any related ITKC if any orsuggested information construct inquiry areas; 6.) the suggestion ofanalysis constructs or analysis construct inquiry areas based onevaluation of content; 7.) the suggestion of information constructs orinformation construct inquiry areas based on evaluation of content; andothers.

In addition, it should be obvious to those skilled in the art that suchsuggestions and suggestion (or automatic action) logic may build uponone another, and cause additional suggestions to be made (or automaticactions taken). For example, the invention's evaluation of the maintopic “What caused the Constitution?” might result in invention'ssuggestion of a subtopic, and subsequent suggestion of an analysisinquiry area or analysis construct such as a timeline or time relatedinquiry. Subsequently, in one preferred embodiment, and as discussedelsewhere herein, the present invention may generate the automaticcreation of an empty timeline, which may be followed by the automaticsearch, retrieval and presentation of relevant search information,consistent with the present invention and discussed herein.

It should be understood that chaining or combining of evaluation,analysis and suggestioning logic may be performed through a plurality ofapproaches and with a plurality of factors, discussed elsewhere hereinand also in ways well understood by those skilled in the art. It shouldfurther be understood that such suggestions may be made more or lessvisible and apparent to a user, users or other electronic source,consistent with the present invention. Thus, in one embodiment, forexample, the evaluation of a question such as “What caused theConstitution” may result in the provisioning of the suggestion of one ormore additional subtopics, such as for example, “What events led up tothe Constitution?”, while another embodiment may result in theprovisioning of a subtopic and suggested timeline related inquiry orempty timeline, while yet another embodiment may result in the directprovisioning of search data results relevant to a timeline without thevisible or otherwise apparent indication of the intervening logicalsteps or suggestions or constructs themselves.

It should be apparent that various approaches may be utilized togenerate such suggestions from a user input or inquiry, whether or notan ITKC is determined to be related to the input or inquiry, withoutdeparting from the scope and intent of the present invention. Forexample, such approaches may include those described in various aspectsof the process manager suggestor (block 390; see for example block 390in FIG. 3A and others), included and implied through the examplesdiscussed herein, and the evaluation and suggestioning approachesdescribed as a part of the System and Method for Facilitating UserThinking About an Arbitrary Problem, in addition to the use of widelyavailable tools such as a Grammar Link Parser or others (shown in FIG.12 block 8031).

In this manner, one aspect of the present invention that gives rise tonew and improved research and search methods and systems is that inpreferred embodiments, the present invention includes the suggestion ofnew, additional or modified inquiry areas and may also include (in someembodiments and some use cases discussed elsewhere herein) the creationof thinking and knowledge structures, based on the application by theinvention of an archetype structure, archetype process and/or otherfactors, potentially also a customized archetype structure, and whenrelevant, a related ITKC. Whether created automatically by the methodand/or system or selected at will by the user or other input, preferredembodiments of the present invention may create suggested inquiry itemsand/or “empty” thinking and knowledge structures (whether visible to theuser or not) that may then be used to generate search arguments andultimately provide completed search results. Such suggested inquiryareas or knowledge and thinking structures represent additional orenhanced knowledge needs that may be relevant to the input or inquiry.It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that these andsimilar types of suggestioning are intended to be within the scope ofthe invention.

For example, in one embodiment, the invention includes the suggestion,definition, construction, development and use of analysis constructs andinformation constructs as some of the types of knowledge constructs thatare among the structures that are in preferred embodiments included inthe archetype structure. Also in some embodiments, the specific analysisconstruct and/or information construct may include the definition ofexpected or in some sense exemplary information types or specific data.The automatic generation capability of the present invention thereforemeans that the invention may search, find, and ultimately generate suchconstructs for the user(s) (see also for example FIGS. 5C, 5D, 5F and 5Gand discussions of the process manager suggestor and autogeneration ofconstructs).

In some embodiments, an additional area of the present invention thatgives rise to new and improved search methods and systems is the presentinvention's ability to generate suggestions based on the content ofvarious portions of the ITKC or of search inquiry results (see also forexample descriptions provided elsewhere herein and of the processmanager suggestor and autogeneration of constructs described elsewhereherein). For example, the invention in some embodiments may suggestsub-questions based on the evaluation of the main topic or questionentered. Content is evaluated and the method and system may suggest tothe user both archetype-related structure and content, for example insome embodiments embedded in or otherwise associated with suggestedinquiry areas or suggested ITKC components. This newly suggested contentthen may also form the basis for search of information or data.

Continuing now with FIG. 12, in one embodiment, the methods and systemsof the present invention generate search arguments, shown in block 8030,based on any one, a combination, or all of a number of factors,including but not limited to: 1.) in some embodiments, consistent withor based on the suggestions, if any, regarding additional constructs,data, or modifications to constructs and/or data suggested or generatedby archetype structure analysis and suggestioning logic, block 8025 andthe input or inquiry and/or other factors discussed elsewhere herein;2.) in some embodiments, such as when an ITKC is indicated as related tothe specific inquiry being processed, based on the existing structureand content of the ITKC, shown in block 1000; 3.) in some embodiments,based on the inquiry input (block 8010) being evaluated by the inventionand one or more archetype structures (blocks 1500 and 1510) and/or anarchetype process (block 2000); 4.) in some embodiments, based on theinquiry input (block 8010) being evaluated by the invention, and one ormore customized or domain or problem specific archetype structures(which may include for example, additional or domain specific modeltopics, analytical or informational or other ITKC related constructs andrecommended content) shown in block 1510; 5.) in some embodiments,utilizing the capabilities of tools and resources that are widelyavailable such as the Grammar Link Parser or other tools, shown in block8031; and others. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention mayutilize all of the potential factors for generating search argumentsthat are available, depending upon an evaluation of the situationsurrounding and associated with the inquiry input being evaluated. Forexample, the present invention in one preferred embodiment appliesarchetype search generation logic associated with evaluating andsuggestioning regarding an ITKC or similar structure when one or moreITKC's (block 1000) or similar structures are determined to beassociated with or related to the input being processed, as well as thelogic associated with an archetype structure (block 1500 and/or block1510). Another embodiment of the present invention applies archetypesearch generation logic based on the input/inquiry being processed, inthe absence of the indication of a related ITKC or similar structure.Another preferred embodiment of the present invention applies customizedarchetype structure logic (block 1510) to the input inquiry beingprocessed when such a customized archetype is available or determined tobe available or otherwise relevant to the input/inquiry being processed,whether or not a significant ITKC is determined to be related to theinput. It should be understood that the evaluation of the specificsearch situation together with user preferences indicated may generate aplurality of such combinations of factors that are appropriate to beused by the archetype-enabled search argument generator module. Theseand other aspects are discussed further below and elsewhere herein.

Referring again to FIG. 11, in one embodiment, if the present inventionevaluates the inquiry input, in block 8022 (or the related ITKC in thosecases where a significant ITKC exists and is related to the input, shownin block 8021) and determines suggestions are warranted to the user,block 8023, then said suggestion(s) (as for example suggested inquiryareas shown in bloc 8025 or ITKC suggestions shown in block 8026) may begenerated displayed or otherwise conveyed to the user(s) for theirreview and approval, shown in block 8027. In other embodiments,suggestions determined by the present invention may not be visiblyconveyed, but may instead be acted upon, as in the automatic generationof any new or modified suggested constructs or content or data, shown inblock 8028, and discussed elsewhere herein.

Continuing with FIG. 12, following the generation of any suggestions orautomatic generation of any suggested constructs, one embodiment of thepresent invention provides methods and systems which continue to processthe inquiry or input provided by the inquiry originator and generatesearch arguments, block 8030. In one embodiment, if any suggestions havebeen warranted, the search argument generator module evaluates saidsuggestions and utilizes such suggestions (block 8024) as one factor ingenerating search arguments, shown in block 8030. In one embodiment, thepresent invention uses such evaluation and the archetype structure (andpotentially other factors, discussed elsewhere herein) in order togenerate the related search argument structure, archetype relatedalgorithms, rules and format, and in some cases content for terms usedto makeup the one or more resulting search argument, shown in block 8030(see also description below regarding search arguments and also definedelsewhere herein). Continuing with FIG. 12, if an ITKC is present in theinquiry context or otherwise associated with the input or inquiry, thesearch argument generator module or similar module utilizes additionalevaluation and input provided by the evaluation of the ITKC to furtherdenote search arguments associated with the inquiry, the inquirycontext, and the associated ITKC, shown in block 1000.

In preferred embodiments, the methods and systems of the presentinvention generate search arguments, being a definition or specificationfor a search need which in preferred embodiments may be associated withone or more suggested inquiry areas or suggested ITKC components,discussed above and elsewhere herein. Such generation may be based onone, some, or all of a plurality of factors, described below and alsoelsewhere herein. In preferred embodiments of the present invention, asearch argument has both a user oriented display and editing version,termed herein a “search argument user display” and a system orientedversion or record, which defines the search need and in preferredembodiments provides a number of parameters associated with the searchneed to be used to conduct, manage, and in some cases direct theformatting of results associated with the search need. For example, inone embodiment, a search argument may include one, some or all ofparameters indicating for example the following: 1.) the source orrelated suggestion of the search argument; 2.) a definition of type ofsearch argument: 3.) relationship to archetype structure component, ifany: 4) indication of whether the search argument (or portion of thesearch argument, as discussed below) should or can be conveyed to asearch engine or other electronic agent: 5.) definition of any terms orphrases or other parameters that are to be utilized in or passed to asearch engine or other electronic agent: 5.) definition of Boolean orother logic or specification that is to be utilized in the conduction ofthe search; 6.) parameters to be utilized in filtering or rankingresults, if any; 7.) type of results formatting to be conducted: 8.)parameters to be utilized in the results formatting, and others. In thismanner, preferred embodiments of the search argument generator providesearch arguments that specify and are used to manage and direct theinput to conduction, and in some cases formatting of results of anyspecific search need that in preferred embodiments is associated withone or more inquiry areas. In one preferred embodiment, a searchargument may also include indications results achieved by the searchargument, which may include but not be limited to for example,indications of 1.) user satisfaction with the results provided by thesearch argument; and 2.) objective indications of results achieved (suchas number and match of results achieved); and others. It should beappreciated that different suggested inquiry areas or suggested ITKCcomponents will generate different search arguments, that may differ notonly in their content, but in which portions of a search a searchargument record or specification are activated or used. It shouldfurther be appreciated that a plurality of approaches and types ofdefinitions of search arguments may be utilized to translate an inquiry,inquiry area, or ITKC construct into a definition that can besubsequently utilized to conduct searches and in some cases rank,prioritize or format results, without departing from the scope andintent of the present invention.

The advantages of generated search arguments as provided by preferredembodiments of the present invention are several. For example, theautomatic generation of search arguments provides a productivity assistto users who are more able to focus on information needs. Also, inpreferred embodiments, the ability of the user to review and edit searcharguments means that they can still add their own additional knowledgeor expertise in conducting a search if so desired, and have a way ofstoring and reusing such arguments over time if so desired. Also, inpreferred embodiments and some use cases (described elsewhere herein),that the search argument further assists in refining the ranking,prioritizing and (in some cases also described elsewhere herein)formatting of search results significantly improves both the quality ofthe results and productivity of the researcher with respect to havingresults and results formats more closely related to their informationneed. Also, the relatedness of search arguments in a search structure(described more fully below) provides a mechanism for a user to focus ona larger view of their research and search or project needs than istypically possible through entering individual search terms orindividual items into information provisioning engines or agents. Inaddition, in preferred embodiments, stored search arguments provide amechanism for multiple users to re-use, share and relate or utilizeaggregated sets of search arguments in their work. Other advantages ofsearch arguments, search structures, and other aspects of the presentinvention are discussed further below and elsewhere and will becomeapparent with additional description.

In one embodiment, continuing with FIG. 12, the search argumentgenerator or similar module evaluates the input or inquiry, and utilizesother factors to generate one or more search arguments, which mayinclude one, a combination or all of factors such as including but notlimited to 1.) any relationships of the current input inquiry to anyother search arguments indicated by a one or more related searchstructures, if indicated in block 8041 (such search structures shown inblock 8045 and discussed further below); 2.) the archetype structure(block 1500), and/or potentially a customized archetype structure (block1510); 3.) other available user context; 4.) widely available tools suchas a Grammar Link Parser or other tools; and others in order to generateone or more search arguments.

Continuing with FIG. 12, in some embodiments, the search generatormodule or similar module may determine that additional user input isneeded (block 8032) or would advantageously enhance the development ofmore relevant or additional search arguments, shown in blocks 8032 and8033. For example, if the prior suggestioning and search argumentgeneration logic result in a timeline suggestion and related search, thepresent invention may prompt the user for additional input regardinglikely parameters (such as for example an initial start and end date),shown in block 8033. In this example and this embodiment, if the user isable to or chooses to provide such additional input, then presentinvention may process the additional input and enhance or edit thesearch argument (shown in block 8044). In other embodiments, the presentinvention may allow for the retention and later execution of both themore general search argument (as would be utilized in the absence ofadditional user input) as well as the edited, and usually more specificsearch argument generated with the additional user input.

In this manner, in some embodiments, the present invention's methods andsystems may generate search algorithms at successive levels ofspecificity, commensurate with the level of thinking and work beingconducted by the user or desired for the search at the time.

It should be appreciated that the archetype search logic associated withthe search argument generator module will, in some embodiments and inmany use situations, result in the creation of more than one searchargument. It is an advantage of the present invention that the archetypeenabled research and search system in a preferred embodiment allows foradvantageously generating and subsequently managing, relating andqueuing multiple search arguments that may related, for example, to thesame problem, ITKC, user session, group of users, or inquiry input. Forpurposes of explanation and description, such related multiple searcharguments are herein termed a “search structure”, indicated by block8045 in FIG. 12. Referring to FIG. 10, in one embodiment, the portion ofthe present invention's methods and systems that create and manage sucha search structure is herein termed a search structure manager, andindicated in FIG. 10 block 10040.

Continuing with FIG. 12, in one embodiment, following the generation ofa search argument (block 8030, and the prompting for additional userinput, if any (block 8032), the present invention determines whether thecurrent inquiry or input being processed is related to an existingsearch structure, in block 8041. In this embodiment, if the generatedsearch argument is related to any existing search structure, then thepresent invention updates the search structure (block 8045) with the newor additional or edited search argument (block 8044), and in a preferredembodiment will store the search arguments and search structure (block8046) and may provide the structure and/or the search argument to theuser for their review (block 8047) and potential editing or updating ofthe search arguments (block 8034) and/or search structure (block 8044).Continuing with FIG. 12, in one embodiment, if the generated or editedsearch argument is determined in block 8041 to not be related to anyexisting search structure, then the present invention determines whethermultiple search arguments have been generated from one inquiry or inputprocessed or are otherwise present in a related way, discussed elsewhereherein, in block 8042. In this embodiment, if the present inventiondetermines, as shown in block 8042, that multiple search arguments havebeen generated or are otherwise involved, then the present inventiongenerates, shown in block 8043, a search structure, in block 8045, thatin preferred embodiments is subsequently stores, block 8046, and againmay be provided or presented to the user for review, and potentialediting of the search argument(s) and/or search structure, in block8047, through the provisioning of a user oriented format representingthe search structure. Search structures may be generated utilizing anumber of factors, including but not limited to the archetype structure,block 1500, any customized archetype structure (block 1510), any relatedITKC (block 1000), content relationships and other factors discussedherein. It should be understood that a plurality of approaches forrelating multiple search arguments may be used without departing fromthe scope and the intent of the invention.

The relationships of search arguments within a search structure enabledby the present invention may take a plurality of forms and incorporate aplurality of relationships. In one embodiment, such relationships mayinclude that of more general to more specific, in a hierarchicallyrelated fashion. In other embodiments, such relationships may includethat of subgroups of related searches, related to one another by contentor by structure or desired information type, for example. In otherembodiments, such relationships may take the form of relationships basedon relationships between the implied or suggested inquiry areas or ITKCcomponents, block 8023 and previously described. In some embodiments, inthe presence of a related ITKC for example, the creation of a searchstructure of related multiple search arguments made be based upon thestructure and links present or implied in the related ITKC. In otherembodiments, for example in the case of an ITKC not determined to berelated to the inquiry, the present invention may generate a related,multiple search structure based upon inquiries submitted by the sameuser or source in a contiguous use session. In other embodiments, thepresent invention may generate a related, multiple search structurebased upon perceived similarities in the wordings or content submittedin inquiries. In other embodiments, the present invention may generate arelated, multiple search structure based upon the archetype structure,block 1500, and/or any related customized archetype structure, block1510, if any and may therefore structurally resemble an ITKC or subsetof an ITKC. It should be appreciated that there are a plurality ofapproaches that may be used to relate search arguments to one anotherthat utilize approaches well understood by those familiar with the art,and that these approaches should also be considered within the scope ofthe present invention in the creation or management of search argumentstructures.

In some embodiments, such potential sub groupings or relationships ofsearch arguments may be generated and presented to the user for theirreview and edit, as shown in FIG. 12 block 8047. In this manner, in someembodiments, therefore, the present invention allows for and enablesusers to manage sets of searches in a search group and/or search relatedstructure. This may be advantageous, for example, in providing amechanism for users to submit and manage the results of multiplesearches likely to be required for many inquiry based projects orthreads of inquiry pursued by users.

Continuing with FIG. 12, in some embodiments, search arguments definedby the combination of input factors and the search argument generatormodule in conjunction with an archetype structure may therefore bestored (block 8046) and may be related to one another in a searchstructure or similar structure, block 8045 as discussed above andotherwise herein. It should be appreciated that the existence ofmultiple generated search arguments and the relatedness or not of suchsearch arguments will vary. In some embodiments and use situations, theinquiry and the user context may indicate a single inquiry and singlegenerated search argument, unrelated to other search arguments. In otherembodiments and other use situations, the inquiry and the user contextmay indicate many generated search arguments with many relationships.The determination of the number of search arguments generated from aninquiry, and the relatedness of those search arguments within an inquiryand across inquiries will depend upon a number of factors, including butnot limited to: 1.) the complexity of the inquiry provided by the useror electronic source; 2.) the relation or lack of relation of theinquiry to an ITKC; 3.) the relation or lack of relation of the inquiryto other inquiries posed by the same user, or within the same usesession or by a group of users; 4.) the relation of lack of relation ofone inquiry to other queries inquiries as indicated by contentrelatedness or similarity of type of the queries inquiries to otherinquiries queries; 5.) the relatedness or lack of relatedness of oneinquiry to other queries inquiries as indicated, related, or grouped bythe user or users; 6.) the relatedness or lack of relatedness of oneinquiry to other inquiries as indicated by analysis conducted accordingto an archetype structure block 1500 and/or customized archetypestructure, block 1510, employed by the search argument generator module;and others. It is to be understood that the present invention providesfor and manages the creation and in some embodiments the execution of arelated structure of multiple search arguments, without regard to thenumber, complexity or type of those relationships or the number, type orcomplexity of the search arguments provided for in the search argumentstructure.

Returning to FIG. 8, block 8050 and FIG. 10 Block 10050 and furtherdescribed in FIG. 13, one embodiment of the present invention providesfor a search conduction manager or similar module that manages theexecution of the generated search argument(s) to produce search results,as shown in Block 8050. In some embodiments and in some use situations,the conduction of searches to produce results is initiated by thepresent invention to occur at or near the time that the search argumentsare generated and determined ready to be processed, as determined inblock 8051. In other embodiments or other use situations, continuingwith FIG. 13 and shown for example in block 8046, the search argumentsincluded with and generated by the present invention may be stored andconducted at a later time. Such storing and delaying of searchconduction based on generated search arguments may be advantageous, forexample, in use situations in which the user, group, or electronicsource is continuing with other project or information work and does notwish to proceed with search conduction at the time the search argumentsare determined. Other situations in which the delaying of searchconduction may be advantageous include, for example, situations in whicha user(s) are working offline or the search generator module isotherwise not within easy access of search processing or access to, forexample, the Internet. It should be understood that the decoupling intime or work process of the conduction of search arguments from theidentification and/or generation of search gaps and/or generation ofsearch arguments is within the scope of the present invention, and maybe desirable for a number of reasons.

In many embodiments, the invention stores searches that are completedalong with their result parameters, and may display such history inrelation to archetype components (such as relating search parameters toquestions used at the time, etc.), suggested inquiry areas, suggestedITKC components, search arguments, search structures, and othersdiscussed elsewhere herein. Successful searches may also be stored andapplied in later applications of the archetypes.

Continuing with FIG. 13, one embodiment of the present inventionincludes the determination of whether the search(es) are to be conductedat or near the time of generation or delayed (shown in block 8051).Continuing with FIG. 13, one embodiment of the present invention thendetermines whether the particular search conduction session involvesmultiple search arguments, indicated in block 8052, and discussedelsewhere herein. If multiple search arguments are indicated, then thesearch conduct module or similar module invokes processing related tothe conduct of multiple searches, as indicated in block 8052 anddescribed in greater detail in FIG. 14.

One embodiment of the present invention includes a search conductionmanager or similar module (FIG. 10 block 10050), which may prioritize,sequence and manage any generated or stored multiple search argumentsfor their conduction as searches. In the simplest case of one embodimentof the present invention, there is no prioritization or sequencingnecessary because the search argument generated from the inquiry is asingle search argument, and as such is conducted according to the flowindicated by FIG. 14 block 80-55, conduct individual search and furtherdelineated in FIG. 15. However, in many embodiments and use situations,further discussed herein, the application of archetypes to generatesearch arguments is likely to result in multiple search arguments beinggenerated. In addition, even in the absence of the generation ofmultiple search arguments from a single input/inquiry, the presentinvention, in preferred embodiments, provides for a plurality ofmechanisms for prioritizing and in some cases sequencing or queuing thedesired search arguments that may, for example, be related to the sameuse session or to a project or other grouping of searches determined,for example by the user or other factors described elsewhere herein, asfor example in based on the application of an archetype structure,archetype process, related or existing ITKC, and other factors discussedelsewhere herein.

Referring now to FIG. 14, one embodiment of the conduction of multiplesearches (block 8053) as for example provided by a search conductormanager or similar module (FIG. 10 block 10050) is discussed. Referringto FIG. 14, a search conductor manager or similar module may firstprioritize searches within a related search structure, shown in block14001, based on one, some or all of a number of factors that may includebut not be limited to the following: 1.) based on the generated orrelated search structure, shown in block 8045; 2.) based on therelationships and rules from the archetype structure, block 1500, and/orany identified or related customized archetype structure, block 1510 orarchetype process (block 2000); 3.) based on any identified or relatedITKC, block 1000; 4,) based on user set priorities, block 13004; andothers, block 13005. Continuing with FIG. 14, the present invention insome embodiments may then utilize some combination of these and otherfactors to sequence the multiple searches, block 14002, so that they maybe conducted. Such sequencing may in some embodiments include theconduction of a search against the result of a previously conductedsearch, indicated in block 14005, for example. In other embodiments andcases (as for example indicated with block 14004), the present inventionin conducting multiple searches may combine or otherwise integrate theresults from multiple searches into a single or different relatedsubsets of results, also indicated in block 14005. Continuing with FIG.14, in some embodiments, the present invention may also queue and thenmanage the execution of the individual search arguments block 14003,according to the flow generally described further in FIG. 15, block 8055conduct individual search.

Referring to FIG. 15, in some embodiments, following the appropriatesequencing, prioritizing, and queuing of multiple search argumentsdiscussed previously above (or in embodiments and cases in which only asingle search argument is to be conducted), the present invention may,through the search conductor or similar module, conduct or cause to beconducted a specific search based on a search argument, block 8055.Referring to FIG. 15, the present invention in some embodiments willdetermine whether a third party search engine or agent is to be utilizedin the search, as shown in block 15001. Such determination may be madebased on a number of factors, including but not limited to items such asdesignated user preference and the type and characteristics of thesearch argument being executed, as well as others. If a third partysearch engine or agent is to be utilized, then the present invention insome embodiments through the search conductor or similar module sends amessage to or otherwise invokes a third party search engine or agent, asindicated in blocks 15002 and 8052. Approaches to sending searcharguments to third party search engines or agents and receiving resultsare well understood by those skilled in the art and need not bedescribed in detail herein. For example, conventional forms of searcharguments may be transmitted to web services forms of search enginesutilizing SOAP envelopes or other approaches. It should be appreciatedthat a plurality of approaches may be utilized to send search argumentsto search engines or agents and receive search results, and that theseare to be considered within the scope of the invention.

Continuing with FIG. 15, in some embodiments, if a third party searchengine or other agent is not determined to be utilized for the search tobe conducted, then the present invention accesses and searches, block15003, various information sources, block 8035, which may include aplurality of source and information types, described elsewhere herein.Various mechanisms may be utilized by the present invention to assist inthe location of information and sources relevant to any search,including but not limited to, for example, those shown in FIG. 9, blocks9011-9015, as mechanisms to access a corpus of documents or information.In some embodiments, the present invention identifies matches (block15004) and otherwise selects documents or portions of documents andreturns or identifies search results, block 15005.

In these manners, then the present invention generates and manageslikely multiple search arguments that enhance any single input orinquiry, and searches or causes to be searched a variety of informationsources to produce search results.

It should be understood that in some embodiments and in some use orsearch argument situations, it may be desirable for the sequencing ofmultiple searches to include the feeding of results from one search intoanother search, and that such progressive use of search arguments is tobe understood to be within the scope of the invention.

Referring now to FIG. 16, one embodiment of the present invention'sadditional processing of search results is described. Such additionalprocessing of search results may be accomplished, for example and insome embodiments, by an archetype enabled search results prioritizer(FIG. 10, block 10060) and/or an archetype enabled search resultsformatter (FIG. 10, block 10070) or similar modules. It should beunderstood that the methods, systems, functions and processingassociated with the flows described in FIG. 16, as with other Figuresincluded herein that describe representative flows, may be accomplishedin a number of different orders and a plurality of combinations orsubsets without departing from the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 16, in one embodiment, the present invention receivesand processes search results in order to improve the relevancy ofresults to the user or originator of the input or inquiry. In FIG. 16, aset of search results is represented schematically for discussionpurposes as Res 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 (shown in blocks 16001, 16002, 16003,16004 and 16005 respectively). Continuing with FIG. 16, the presentinvention in some embodiments may filter or otherwise subset a set ofsearch results, shown in block 8061, to produce a reduced or subsettedset of search results, represented schematically in blocks 16002, 16004,and 16005(a) following block 8061. In one preferred embodiment, suchfiltering may be done based on a number of factors that may include anyone, a combination or all but not be limited to the following: 1.) forexample, the application of an archetype structure (block 1500) and/or2.) a customized archetype structure, if any, (block 1510); 3.) therelated search structure, block 8045, if any; 4.) any related oridentified ITKC, block 1000, if any; 5.) the use of widely availabletools such as a Grammar Link Parser or other tools, block 8031, andothers. For example, continuing with the example in which an inquiry maybe “What caused the Constitution?”, the present invention might employsearch results filtering logic based on the above and/or other wellunderstood factors to eliminate those records or references that do notcontain archetype indicators for causation. As another example, if thesearch argument being conducted is related to a timeline, in someembodiments, the present invention may similarly filter or eliminaterecords or references or information that do not appear to containdates. These and other filtering approaches will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art and should be considered within the scope and intentof the present invention.

Continuing with FIG. 16, in one embodiment, the present invention maythen rank or prioritize remaining search results, shown in block 8065,and resulting in a re-ranked set of search results, shown schematicallyin FIG. 16 as Res 1 (block 16005(a) and formerly Res 5), Res 2 (block16002 and formerly Res 2 by ordered first prior to ranking), and Res 3(block 16004 and formerly Res 4). Factors that may be used by thepresent invention in some embodiments to accomplish such ranking orprioritizing of results may include by not be limited to any one, acombination or all of the following: 1.) for example, the application ofan archetype structure (block 1500) and/or 2.) a customized archetypestructure, if any, (block 1510); 3.) the related search structure, block8045, if any; 4.) any related or identified ITKC, block 1000, if any;and others. In this manner, the present invention in preferredembodiments provides additional filtering, ranking and prioritizinglogic to enhance search results. It should be appreciated that the flowsrepresented in FIG. 16 are representative only and that other orders orcombinations of applying an archetype structure and/or other factors tofiltering and/or ranking of search results are to be considered withinthe scope of this invention.

Continuing with FIG. 16, one embodiment of the present invention mayemploy an archetype enabled search results formatter or similar module(shown in FIG. 10 block 10070), which in one embodiment may utilizefactors such as but not limited to the archetype structure (block 1500),any customized archetype structure (block 1510), any related ITKC (block1000), any related search structure (block 8045) and/or archetypeprocess information or other factors in order to format the searchresults in the most relevant and advantageous manner for the user, shownin block 8070. In preferred embodiments, following the identification ofa set of documents that best match the search argument(s), as describedmore fully elsewhere herein, preferred embodiments of the presentinvention may then store the selected documents in any of a number ofdata base formats, including but not limited to for example. XML, SQL,and others, and further process and format the selected results, asindicated in FIG. 16 blocks 8070. Some embodiments may alternatively oralso provide for a user option to review the archetype enabled researchand search system resulting documents through a list, summary or otherprovided review mechanism, and allow for the user to select or otherwiseapprove items from the results list for inclusion in the formattedresults. Other embodiments may also provide for the user or users toselect among results formatting options, described elsewhere herein. Itshould be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a plurality ofapproaches can be used for the present invention to access and otherwiseprocess a set of search results to provide the formatting hereindescribed. It should also be understood that other format options thatwould be evident to those skilled in the art are to be considered withinthe scope of the present invention. As indicated in block 8070, suchformatting and presenting may include but not be limited to 1.) thecreation or autogeneration of a constructed or partial ITKC-like orarchetype construct which may be termed a constructed inquiry construct(for example, such as a knowledge or information construct) based onsearch arguments; 2.) a prioritized or annotated list of references orinformation results or subsets or snippets of information results, 3.) acombination of these with or without the presentation of additionalsuggested search arguments or constructs, and others. In someembodiments, the present invention may provide suggestions foradditional searches, search arguments, topics, or potential constructsto be constructed at the same time or in conjunction with providing oneor more sets of search results, and based on the capabilities describedelsewhere herein with regard to the archetype enabled suggestiongenerator (FIG. 8 Block 8024), process manager suggestor (variousFigures block 390), autogeneration of ITKC constructs and othersdescribed elsewhere herein. In preferred embodiments, the presentinvention provides for either presenting formatted search results to auser(s), block 8081, or may instead or in addition output the formattedsearch results in electronic or printed form, block 8082. In someembodiments, and in cases in which an ITKC is related to the inquiry orinput being processed, the search results and suggestions may bereturned to the ITKC system and method and the ITKC may be automaticallyupdated accordingly, shown in block 16005, as discussed also elsewhereherein.

The advantages of the abilities of preferred embodiments of the presentinvention with regard to archetype enabled results formatting are many,such as but not limited to, for example: 1.) such results formattingsignificantly improves user productivity by providing search resultsmatched to search arguments, potentially grouped by multiple searcharguments, and more closely aligned with their information needs; 2.) incases where constructed items are provided in keeping with the ITKCsystem and method's construct capabilities, the user receives, forexample, partially constructed information and/or constructed analysisbased on the capabilities of the present invention as opposed to a setof documents or data located in the search itself: and others (see also,for example, discussions of the process manager suggestor in block 390and autogeneration of ITKC components and FIGS. 5C, 5D, 5F, 5G and otherdescriptions provided elsewhere herein).

As used herein the term arbitrary problem includes qualitativeexpressions of problems, quantitative problems, and combinationsthereof.

In addition, the description often uses the term “construct” inconnection with the description of the preferred implementations. Bythis term it is meant and organized collection of the relevant data. Theterm is not meant to be limited to any particular form of data structureor organization, though certain preferred implementations organize dataaccording to object oriented design principles.

When referring to the term “archetype” as in archetype process orarchetype structure, the intent is to cover exemplary, though notnecessarily optimal, processes or structures.

When referring to the term “integrated” the intent is to cover thingsoperating harmoniously, or uniting components that were previouslyregarded as separate.

In the foregoing detailed description of the present invention, and itspreferred and example embodiments discussed herein, reference is made inpart to the accompanying drawings that form a part thereof. The drawingsin conjunction with the following description and explanation show byway of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may bepracticed. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilizedand structural and functional changes may be made without departing fromthe scope of the present invention.

It will be appreciated that the scope of the present invention is notlimited to the above described embodiments but rather is of broadapplicability, and that other embodiments in keeping with the presentinvention should be similarly considered within the intent of thisinvention, and that claims that define the invention will encompassmodifications of and improvements to what has been described.

1. A method for providing enhanced research capabilities, said methodcomprising: providing an interface; providing enhanced computerimplemented search and research capabilities executable on one or morecomputers, said capabilities comprising: Receiving at least one inquiryfrom at least one user; Evaluating the at least one inquiry relative toan archetype structure or archetype process or both; Determining atleast one of a suggested inquiry area or a suggested inquiry construct,or both, related to the at least one inquiry; Generating at least onesearch argument related to at least one of the at least one suggestedinquiry area, the at least one suggested inquiry construct, and the atleast one inquiry, or any combination thereof; Providing in display oroutput or both, at least one of the suggested inquiry area, suggestedinquiry construct, or generated search argument, or any combinationthereof.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: Determiningwhether a user model structure is associated with the at least oneinquiry; If a user model structure is determined to be associated withthe at least one inquiry, evaluating the user model structure relativeto at least one of an archetype structure, an archetype process and theinquiry or any combination thereof; Generating or modifying, or both, atleast one of a suggested inquiry area, suggested inquiry construct, orsearch argument, or any combination thereof, related to at least one ofthe inquiry and the user model structure, or both.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: Providing at least one of the at least onesuggested inquiry area, suggested inquiry construct, and generatedsearch argument, or any combination thereof, to the at least one user ina manner which allows at least one of the at least one suggested inquiryarea, suggested inquiry construct, and generated search argument to bereviewed by the user.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the reviewprovided to the user includes providing controls to allow for keeping,deleting or editing the at least one suggested inquiry area, suggestedinquiry construct, and generated search argument.
 5. The method of claim3 wherein the review provided to the user includes controls toprioritize or rank at least one of suggested inquiry areas, suggestedinquiry constructs, or generated search arguments, or any combinationthereof.
 6. The method of claim 3 wherein the review provided to theuser includes controls to sequence at least one of suggested inquiryareas, suggested inquiry constructs and search arguments, or anycombination thereof.
 7. The method of claim 3 wherein the reviewprovided to the user includes controls to relate at least one ofsuggested inquiry areas, suggested inquiry constructs and searcharguments to one another.
 8. The method of claim 1 in which the user isa person.
 9. The method of claim 1 in which the user is a group or teamof people.
 10. The method of claim 1 in which the user is an electronicsource of input.
 11. The method of claim 1 in which at least one of theat least one suggested inquiry area, suggested inquiry construct, orgenerated search argument is combined with the inquiry to generate atleast one additional suggested inquiry area, suggested inquiryconstruct, or search argument, or any combination thereof.
 12. Themethod of claim 1 in which the at least one suggested inquiry area orsuggested inquiry construct replaces the inquiry.
 13. The method ofclaim 1 in which multiple suggested inquiry areas, suggested inquiryconstructs or search arguments are generated, or any combinationthereof.
 14. The method of claim 13 in which at least one of multiplesuggested inquiry areas, multiple suggested inquiry constructs andmultiple search arguments are mapped into a related search structure, orany combination thereof.
 15. A method for providing enhanced researchingand searching results comprising: providing an interface; providingcomputer implemented capabilities that accomplish enhanced researchingand searching results, said capabilities executable on one or morecomputers and comprising: Receiving at least one inquiry from at leastone user; Evaluating the at least one inquiry relative to an archetypestructure or archetype process or both; Determining at least one of asuggested inquiry area or a suggested inquiry construct, or both,related to the at least one inquiry; Generating at least one searchargument related to at least one of the at least one suggested inquiryarea, the at least one suggested inquiry construct, and the at least oneinquiry, or any combination thereof; Causing at least one searchassociated with at least one of an at least one suggested inquiry area,an at least one suggested inquiry construct and at least one searchargument to be processed and searched and generate search results. 16.The method of claim 15 further comprising: Determining whether a usermodel structure is associated with the at least one inquiry; If a usermodel structure is determined to be associated with the at least oneinquiry, evaluating the user model structure relative to at least one ofan archetype structure, an archetype process and the inquiry or anycombination thereof; Generating or modifying, or both, at least one of asuggested inquiry area, suggested inquiry construct, or search argument,or any combination thereof, related to at least one of the inquiry andthe user model structure, or both.
 17. The method of claim 15 furthercomprising providing search results to a user.
 18. The method of claim15 further comprising outputting search results to a user.
 19. Themethod of claim 15 further comprising filtering results from at leastone processed search by evaluating or mapping search results relative toan archetype structure.
 20. The method of claim 15 further comprisingfiltering results from at least one processed search by evaluating ormapping search results relative to at least one user model structure.21. The method of claim 15 further comprising ranking or prioritizingresults from at least one processed search by evaluating or mappingsearch results relative to an archetype structure.
 22. The method ofclaim 15 further comprising ranking or prioritizing results from atleast one processed search by evaluating or mapping search resultsrelative to a user model structure.
 23. The method of claim 15 in whichthe results of conducting the at least one search include a list of hitsrepresenting documents.
 24. The method of claim 15 in which the resultsof conducting the at least one search include data or content items. 25.The method of claim 15 in which the results of conducting the at leastone search include generating at least one constructed inquiryconstruct.
 26. A method for providing enhanced search results, saidmethod comprising: providing an interface; providing computerimplemented capabilities that accomplish enhanced search results, saidcapabilities executable on one or more computers and comprising:Receiving a set of search results; Evaluating a set of search resultsrelative to at least one of an archetype structure, an archetypeprocess, a user model structure, or any combination thereof; Generatingat least one of a ranking priority or filtering or both for the searchresults based on said evaluation; Causing at least one of a reorderingor sub-setting or both of the search results based on said ranking orfiltering.
 27. A method for providing enhanced search results, saidmethod comprising: providing an interface; providing computerimplemented capabilities that accomplish enhanced search results, saidcapabilities executable on one or more computers and comprising:Receiving a set of search results; Evaluating a set of search resultsrelative to at least one of an archetype structure, an archetypeprocess, a user model structure, or any combination thereof; Generatingat least one constructed inquiry construct from the search resultscontent.
 28. A system for enhanced searching, comprising: processorexecutable instructions embodied in at least one of a computer-readablemedium, computer readable device or memory, or a combination thereof,said instructions comprising: Instructions for receiving at least oneinquiry from at least one user, Instructions for evaluating the at leastone inquiry relative to an archetype structure or archetype process orboth; Instructions for determining at least one of a suggested inquiryarea or a suggested inquiry construct, or both, related to the at leastone inquiry; Instructions for causing at least one search associatedwith at least one of an at least one suggested inquiry area, an at leastone suggested inquiry construct and at least one search argument, or anycombination thereof, to be processed and searched and generate searchresults.